Intolerance - D.W. Griffith (1916)

In a lot of ways, this is an amazing movie. If I put myself (as much as one can) in a seat in a theatre watching this in 1916 - I would be impressed. This is an epic cinematic masterpiece. For it's time. Today, we take it for granted that the world is accessible to us. Through TV, newspapers, magazines and the Internet - we can see anything we want whenever we want. Back in 1916, that was not the case. So to see a movie that takes place in a palace in France, and in the streets of a Byzantine market would have bee thrilling (I imagine).

The story about this film is this, D.W. Griffith made a movie 'The Birth of a Nation' in 1915. (And yes, I have watched it.) It is a good movie which traces the history of the United States through to the Civil War. The problem with this movie is, it is unapologetically racist. I won't go into detail, but one of the final scenes is the KKK riding in to save the day. Sheesh!!! And it's a shame, because this is a landmark film and it's tainted by this.

So, Griffith made 'Intolerance' as an apology for making 'The Birth of a Nation'.

When I started this project, I had a couple of rules, one was I had to watch all the films on the list (even if I had seen them before) and I had to watch them to their completion. I broke that rule with this movie. I sat through 2 hours (of the 3 hour epic) and I had to give up. And before you judge me, I invite you to watch it.

Important film to see. Yes. Do I ever plan on watching it again? No.

One word to describe 'Intolerance': Intolerable