For years I wondered what the value was of having this film
in the library. Then I got interested in film and realized the brilliance of
the film process itself; given the times and technology. What a conundrum; a
classic film with much to admire in technological marvels, but filled with
flawed history and blatant racism. How do you even review a film like that?
Author Bert Lehr has gone beyond that with his
all-encompassing book about the film and 2 men; both ahead of their times. D.W.
Griffith was the director of the film; and Monroe Trotter was the African- American
man who rallied his people; and a good portion of the nation; in denouncing the
film. In addition, he has created a biography of the film itself and the rising
pangs of former slaves to be treated like citizens. It is, in short, the story
of an era.
The author begins with brief biographies of both men;
drawing a contrast that is as remarkable as fiction. Griffith’s father was
James Griffith, a staunch segregationist and veteran of the Civil War who had
served with the Kentucky Calvary and fought at Charleston when the Union
marched in.
Likewise, so was Trotter’s father a veteran of the Civil War;
having served in an all-black regiment of the Union Army. He was one of the men
who marched into Charleston as Griffith’s father fled. The irony of their two
sons facing off over a film about that war, 50 years later, is remarkable.
After the film was finished; but before its release; it was
screened for President Wilson in private at the White House. Wilson was a
Southerner and thought the film was wonderful. Trotter saw it differently. He; along
with Union veterans both black and white; organized boycotts and protests
across the country, and denounced the film as racist.
Yet for all of the protestations about the glorification of
the Ku Klux Klan, and the attendant lynching’s, the film has remained a staple
of film history. Most of the times it is touted as a breakthrough film as far
as technology goes. And there is much truth to that. But the darker side is
that it remains a searing portrait of our country at a crossroads.
The bitter taste of Reconstruction was still very fresh on
the minds and in the hearts of the southern people; just as the bitterness of
slavery was still very much alive in the former slaves and their children. The
Jim Crow era was in full swing. And D.W. Griffith made a film which glorified
the era, as well as the swinging bodies which that era produced.
This book is all encompassing. It is two biographies in one.
It is the history of the Reconstruction Era and also a look at the Jim Crow
Days which ushered in a new century. Given the history of the divide, it is no
surprise that the events of that century still affect us today.
No comments:
Post a Comment