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IntoleranceRating:
Release Date: 10 December, 2002 Retail Price: $29.95 OUR Price: $26.99 You SAVE: $2.96! Cast: Complete Cast (12 total) |
Intolerance Reviews
ALMOST TOO BIG TO DESCRIBE & TOO HEAVY TO FULLY APPRECIATE
IN A NUTSHELL: THE THEME IS SIMPLE -- THE STORIES ARE ANYTHING BUT SIMPLE!
"Intolerance" is presented via a cross-cutting of the four tales of injustice: the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 16th century France, the crucifixion of Christ, a modern workers' strike, and a story of ancient Babylon.
WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT: THE EFFECT OF INTOLERANCE
To viewers of modern films, such as myself, following and comprehending "Intolerance" is a formidable task. We are so used to dialogue, modern symbolism, and tight editing that this film, difficult to appreciate and understand in 1916, may be even more difficult to decipher today.
Nevertheless, there is no shortage of powerful, gut-wrenching images that are properly developed, played-out, and delivered to four dramatic climaxes.
As a result, it is difficult not to think about the meaning of "Intolerance" which probably transcends G.W. Griffith's intentions. Unfortunately, as cinema entertainment goes, this was NOT a winner at the box-office, and the critics view of the film was very mixed.
BOTTOM LINE: Didactic --- but emotionally Super-Potent!
Very heavy fare for viewing, as it is long, melo-dramatic, a little difficult to follow, silent except for captions and score, and totally didactic. Nevertheless, it is emotionally super-potent. I get the point most strongly, and find myself examining my own behavior and evaluating it on the basis of my own intolerance since seeing this film.
ABOUT THE DVD: "The Kino Video DVD"
----- *-"Master from 35mm archive elements"
----- *-Stereo Score by Joseph Turrin
----- *-Introduction by Orson Welles
This film is 90 years old. That right ---- 90! Considering its age it plays incredibly well. This particular edition is 197 minutes long and the captions are on long enough for anyone to read them [for a change]!
ALSO SUGGESTED: ACCLAIMED EARLY SILENT FILMS OF G.W. GRIFFITH
Hearts of the World (1918, D.W. Griffith)
Broken Blossoms (1919, D.W. Griffith)
The Birth of a Nation (1915, D.W. Griffith)
Way Down East (1920, D.W. Griffith)
The White Rose (1923, D.W. Griffith)
One Exciting Night (1922, D.W. Griffith)
The Greatest Thing in Life (1918, D.W. Griffith)
D.W. Griffith and INTOLERANCE In The 21st Century.
Imagine that Steven Spielberg was no longer directing movies and that WAR OF THE WORLDS would be the one film he is remembered for. Would that be a fair assessment of his career? Absolutely not but that is what has happened to cinema pioneer D.W. Griffith. The film he is remembered for today is the 1915 BIRTH OF A NATION which was the first important American epic. Unfortunately its source material THE CLANSMAN (the film's original title) is a Southern view of the Civil War which glorifies the Ku Klux Klan and is extremely racist (although toned down considerably from the book by Thomas Dixon). Griffith made 34 feature films and over 400 shorts between 1908 and 1931. In the overwhelming majority of these he is a social progressive tackling such issues as poverty, political corruption, worker exploitation and interracial romance. He even made an anti-Klan film THE ROSE OF KENTUCKY back in 1912. I mention all of this because in this current climate of political correctness Griffith is being judged and censured on the basis of one film as opposed to his whole body of work and the damage being done to his reputation is still going on. In the recent Oscar nominated film JUNEBUG, one of the characters is a Southern racist Civil War painter who happens to be named David Wark (the D.W. in Griffith's name).
INTOLERANCE, the follow-up to NATION, was the most ambitious and expensive film ever made up to that point (1916) and forever changed the way that movies would be made after it. Because of the lifesize sets of Ancient Babylon and the thousands of extras employed, the movie would cost over $500 million to remake today. Its central theme shows how intolerance throughout the ages breeds censorship, censorship breeds repression, repression breeds anger and anger breeds more intolerance. Set in four different historical time periods (including then present day 1916), the film shifts back and forth from story to story with ever increasing frequency until it reaches its dramatic climax followed by a fanciful epilogue of what the world would be like if we could only banish our fear and hatred. Virtually every visual film technique you can think of appeared in this film inspiring filmmakers around the world who quickly followed suit. After 90 years it still remains a wonder to be seen. There are several different versions of INTOLERANCE currently available on DVD. This Kino edition is the most complete while the Image edition follows Griffith's reissue wishes for the film. AVOID at all costs all the low budget DVDs of this cinematic milestone as they are of inferior visual quality and have uncoordinated sound accompaniment. It's time once again to give D.W. Griffith his due and this is the place to start. Follow this up with his BIOGRAPH shorts and then some of his features such as BROKEN BLOSSOMS or SALLY OF THE SAWDUST and see just what he was capable of. Griffith's wheel of fortune has come full circle a number of times and will continue to do so. That is the measure of a true artist. Remember to look for the Kino or Image DVD version of his films. They cost a lot more but like Criterion DVDs they are loaded with extras and are more than worth it.
More Customer Reviews (16 total)
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