D.W. Griffith was essentially the father of epic cinema. While there were some epic films before his landmark achievement "The Birth of a Nation" (most notably "Cabiria" and "The Last Days of Pompeii"), epic cinema wasn't really all too popular notable before Griffith came along.
As influential and innovative as it may be D.W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation" certainly isn't for everyone, because of the harsh racism and glorification of the dreaded Ku Klux Klan. However, even if you are highly against THAT film, I still think that some of his other epics are worth a look!
His best is probably "Intolerance", but another great one that comes to mind is this film, "Orphans of the Storm"!
Set during French Revolution, this grand historical epic, to put it simply, mainly centers on the loving bond of two sisters (played by two actual sisters, Lilian and Dorothy Gish) and their tragic separation and attempt to find each other again. Along the way, there's action, adventure, and some true melodrama as well as some truly innovative filmmaking.
The editing and filmmaking techniques used here are truly influential and are still used to this day. Griffith's lens really manages to capture the intensity of certain moments thanks to his genius editing and cinematic eye.
However, I must warn you, the film is LONG! In fact, the only problem I have with it is its length. It really dragged at times and I'm sure that if you cut out a couple of scenes the film would still work just fine.
That being said, "Orphans of the Storm" is a true epic masterpiece. There's many shots here that deserve to be framed and hung in a museum somewhere!
As influential and innovative as it may be D.W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation" certainly isn't for everyone, because of the harsh racism and glorification of the dreaded Ku Klux Klan. However, even if you are highly against THAT film, I still think that some of his other epics are worth a look!
His best is probably "Intolerance", but another great one that comes to mind is this film, "Orphans of the Storm"!
Set during French Revolution, this grand historical epic, to put it simply, mainly centers on the loving bond of two sisters (played by two actual sisters, Lilian and Dorothy Gish) and their tragic separation and attempt to find each other again. Along the way, there's action, adventure, and some true melodrama as well as some truly innovative filmmaking.
The editing and filmmaking techniques used here are truly influential and are still used to this day. Griffith's lens really manages to capture the intensity of certain moments thanks to his genius editing and cinematic eye.
However, I must warn you, the film is LONG! In fact, the only problem I have with it is its length. It really dragged at times and I'm sure that if you cut out a couple of scenes the film would still work just fine.
That being said, "Orphans of the Storm" is a true epic masterpiece. There's many shots here that deserve to be framed and hung in a museum somewhere!