The Birth of a Nation is a landmark of film history, lauded for its technical virtuosity, which became the fledgling film industry’s first blockbuster. It was the first non-serial American 12-reel film ever made and ran for over three hours — five thousand discrete scenes — at a time when most films were not longer than ten minutes.

Its plot, part fiction and part history, chronicles the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth and the relationship of two families in the Civil War and Reconstruction eras over the course of several years—the pro-Union (Northern) Stonemans and the pro-Confederacy (Southern) Camerons.

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is portrayed as a heroic force, necessary to preserve American values, protect white women, and maintain white supremacy.

It was originally shown in two parts separated by an intermission, and it was the first American-made film to have a musical score for an orchestra. It pioneered closeups and fadeouts, and it includes a carefully staged battle sequence with hundreds of extras (another first) made to look like thousands.

The production employed eighteen thousand people and three thousand horses and was the first film to allocate money for an advertising campaign. It came with a 13-page "Souvenir Program."

References

• The New Yorker, A Hundred Years Later, “The Birth of a Nation” Hasn’t Gone Away