One of the most controversial films ever made, D.W. Griffith's Civil War epic earned its fame not only because of its inflammatory subject matter, but also because of its complexity. Here Griffith drew upon all the technical devices which he and others had developed, and established the basic style of cinema as disjunctive, with an unlifelike but emotionally effective succession of long shots, medium shots, and rapidly alternating crosscut scenes. In this print of The Birth of a Nation, based on the 12-reel version cut by Griffith himself for reissue in 1921 (originally it had been over 13 reels), Killiam Shows have restored some of the film's original color tints and have synchronized an orchestral score.