The other centennial - Griffith's "Birth of a Nation"

Discuss Welles's own favorite films and directors, as well as filmmakers closest to Welles
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Wellesnet
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The other centennial - Griffith's "Birth of a Nation"

Post by Wellesnet »

Released on Feb. 8th, 1915. Here's a recent book to mark the notorious film's centennial:

http://www.examiner.com/review/book-rev ... f-a-nation
mido505
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Re: The other centennial - Griffith's "Birth of a Nation"

Post by mido505 »

Welles once described himself, artistically, as the child of D. W. Griffith and Georges Melies. In all the millions of words written on Welles, you will not find a more profound, precise, or succinct statement of his creative essence, nor have those millions of words even begun to plumb its extraordinary depths.
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Re: The other centennial - Griffith's "Birth of a Nation"

Post by tonyw »

Unfortunately,m this book is very badly edited and choppy. A much better professional job could have been done since it mostly reproduced Stern's original notes without revising them.
Le Chiffre
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Re: The other centennial - Griffith's "Birth of a Nation"

Post by Le Chiffre »

I saw BIRTH OF A NATION on the big screen with live organ accompaniment a few years go. It is reprehensible, but still packs a wallop, even after all these years.
tonyw
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Re: The other centennial - Griffith's "Birth of a Nation"

Post by tonyw »

Also discussed in this manner of the FB Silents Please page that never fails to involve Riefenstahl and her supporters in succeeding threads.
Wellesnet
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Re: The other centennial - Griffith's "Birth of a Nation"

Post by Wellesnet »

Armond White on the "Birth" centennial:
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/3 ... mond-white
tonyw
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Re: The other centennial - Griffith's "Birth of a Nation"

Post by tonyw »

Armond White's views are always iconoclastic and provocative. Yet the problem lies with the second part of the film where aesthestica can not totally justify the ideological issues within the narrative.
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