Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by rico (A) on October 01, 2004 at 06:16:55

Perhaps becuase of a conversation wiith my dinner and jazz group prior to a concert last evening (all done prior to the debate) when I got home after the long drive from Cambridge to cape Cod I watched most of D.W. Griffiths' masterpiece, "Intolerence". Made in 1916 after the controversial revsionist and racist "Birth of a Nation", "Intolerence" intermixes four stories from different historical eras with a common theme of intolerence and opression.
Each story is tinted a different hue. Although no more difficult to follow than, say, Godfather II or "Slaughterhouse Five", the Griffith outing takes a while to get into as he introduces more characters in the first 15 minutes than a Mary Higgins Clark mystery. 1916 is a long time ago and even as a seasoned silent film viewer, collector, and lover I find it hard to really take Griffiths' actors' style, anything but subtle, seriously.

The ending is a tour de force of editing as the director and editor (cutter in that day's parlance) skillfully intermix the four climazes into an ever increasing tempo mix.

Though there is an orchestral score my laserdisc version has a perfectly acceptable organ sound track. You must be in the modd for this one but as a milestone in the history of cinema it should be seen at least once in your lifetime.