The Birth of a Nation
From the time of its release, D. W. Griffith's epic depicting the ravages of Reconstruction on the South drew charges of racial bigotry leveled at Griffith; it remains one of the most controversial films ever made. The Birth of a Nation earned its fame not only because of its inflammatory subject matter (the film's worst villain is a former slave, while its heroes are among the newly-founded KKK), but also as a landmark of film art. Drawing upon all the technical devices which he and others had developed, Griffith here 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.