As epic as they come–that Babylon set was nuts. While I wish this had been an hour shorter, I appreciated the rhythm and the movement of this movie. It felt symphonic to me: the steady bass line of the “Eternal Motherhood,” the different storylines being played like different instruments contributing to a common theme, and playing off of each other throughout to the crescendo of the final conclusion. When I read that Griffith didn’t intend for the film to be an apology for “Birth,” it struck me as a huge narcissistic reaction to criticism. (“I’m not racist, you’re racist.”) But ultimately here the filmmaking can’t be denied, and I’d include this over the former in any "Top X" list.
Shout by Neal MahoneyVIP 8BlockedParent2020-01-26T19:49:03Z
I had to watch this to finish the AFI top 100 list and it is not an easy watch. As a piece of history I can appreciate it but as a movie I did not enjoy it. It has a large scale for the time and it is impressive.