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The Birth of a Nation(D.W Griffith, March 1915) camera Billy Bitzer, with Lilian Gish (Elsie Stoneman), Mae Marsh (Flora Cameron), Henry B. Walthall (Ben Cameron), Miriam Cooper (Margaret Cameron), Robert Harron (Stoneman’s youngest son Tod), Elmer Clifton (Stoneman’s eldest son Phil) and Spottiswoode Aiken (Dr. Cameron) for Epoch Producing Corporation ¹

‘By bringing the Africans to America, the first seeds of division were planted.’ We see slave owners and dark-skinned African slaves. ‘In the nineteenth century, Abolitionists ask for the liberation of the slaves.’ In a room with listeners, a speaker stands on a podium with two slaves next to him. Money is being raised to support the campaign. In 1860, a great parliamentary leader, whom we will call Austin Stoneman (inspired by Thaddeus Stevens, leader of the radical wing of the Republicans), came to power in the National House of Representatives. ‘We find him, together with his young daughter Elsie, in her apartment in Washington’ while Elsie is adjusting his wig.

‘Some time later, Elsie is with her brothers Phil and Tod at the Stoneman’s country house in Pennsylvania’ (east of New York). The two young men sit in the sun reading the letter they have just written: ‘True to my promise, my brother and I are coming to visit you. We will arrive in Piedmont next Friday. We look forward to seeing you again. Kith and Kin.’ Elsie walks up from behind with a kitten and looks adorable. The entire scene radiates peaceful happiness. In the South, in Piedmont South Carolina, lies the Camerons’ house, where life goes on in an attractive old-fashioned way that no longer exists.’ We see an idyllic sunny picture of the street on which the Camerons’ house is located. The white and black population live together peacefully. Bennie Cameron, the eldest son, approaches. His father, mother and his little sister Flora are sitting in the portico. ‘Margaret Cameron, a daughter of the South, raised the old-fashioned way’ we see climbing the stairs inside the house. Bennie chats with a young lady who drives by in her carriage, kisses his mother and looks at the newspaper with his father ‘the kindly master of Cameron Hall.’ Little sister Flora loves her big brother Ben and the black housekeeper is friendly. Margaret arrives with a letter and gives it to Bennie. It is the letter from the two brothers from the North. Flora and Margaret are excited about their arrival.

‘The Stoneman boys’ visit their Southern friends.’ The young men arrive in a carriage. Phil greets Bennie, the sisters and father and mother Cameron and Tod appears companionably romping with Duke, the second son of the Cameron’s. Phil is immediately very interested in Margaret, so much so that Bennie kindly places himself between the two. The two youngest sons - North and South - chase each other and father Cameron has to calm them down. Bennie and Flora and Phil and Margaret ‘walk across the plantation to the cotton fields.’ Phil and Margaret walk across idyllic rolling grassland - ‘By way of the Valley of Love’ - in a tight circular vignette that expresses intimacy that we have nothing to do with (00:13:17). A negro and a negress pick the cotton lint in the cotton fields. Bennie picks a flower there and gives it to Phil, who in the meantime shows a folder with the photo of his sister Elsie to Margaret. Phil appears to give the flower to Margaret (00:14:19) but takes it back. Meanwhile, Bennie has the photo of Elsie in his hands and does not want to give it back. ‘He finds the ideal of his dreams in the photo of Elsie Stoneman, even though he has never seen her (in person).’ At 00:14:54 we see the photo of Elsie in extreme close-up in eyeball POV. Bennie closes the photo folder and puts it in his inner pocket right above his heart (symbol for his love 00:15:09). ‘In the slave quarters’ we see what happens during ‘the two-hour break given for dinner, during a six to six working day.’ The slaves dance around the Cameron’s and their guests. The relationship between the two worlds is amicable.

‘The gathering storm.’ The power of the independent states, established when Lord Cornwallis (British general who surrendered to a French-American force in the American War of Independence) surrendered to the individual colonies in 1781, is threatened by the new government. Dr. Cameron reads the newspaper and shows an article to Margaret, Bennie and Phil: ‘If the North carries the election, the South will secede.’ He waves his finger agitatedly at Phil. But Phil gestures that things won’t go that fast. (The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 caused the majority of southern states where slavery existed to secede to form the Confederate States. A month after that, the start of Lincoln’s presidency, Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter, beginning the Civil War.)

In ‘the Stoneman library in Washington, which his daughter Elsie never visits, Senate Majority Leader Charles Sumner confers with the Congress leader (Stoneman). Lydia Brown, Stoneman’s housekeeper (inspired by Lydia Hamilton Smith, a mulatto widow with two children who cared for Stoneman and was considered his mistress), behaves rudely towards a black colleague and Stoneman also behaves uncivilized, sweeping back his wig and banging his fist on the table. The leader of the Senate sits isolated in his blurry oval vignette (00:18:06). Sumner says goodbye and leaves, ordering the housekeeper with small (humiliating) gestures to get out of the way. ‘The mulatto is aroused from her ambitious dreams by Sumner’s curt orders.’ She then hands Sumner his top hat but drops it before he can get it. She holds the door open for him, supposedly politely, but angrily spits after him and then collapses on the floor in anger and starts crying. But then a vengeful fire breaks out in her. ‘The weakness of a great leader destroys a nation.’ When Stoneman comes near Lydia Brown, she starts sobbing. Stoneman asks what is going on and when she tells him that Sumner has misbehaved, he tries to comfort her a little too intimately.

‘The visitors to the Cameron’s are called back north and the comrades promise to meet again.’ ‘Young Phil Stoneman swears that his dreams will only be about Margaret until they meet again.’ Phil and Margaret stand in the Cameron home as a powerful backlight illuminates them (00:22:03). Bennie disrupts their get-together and accompanies them outside. The friends are waved goodbye by the family and Margeret remains outside for a while while she thinks, amorously and somewhat unhappily, about Phil.

(The Civil War begins April 12-13, 1861 with the attack of Confederate artillery on Fort Sumter in seceded South Carolina). President Lincoln signs in his office ‘The Proclamation with the first call for 75,000 volunteers.’ ‘Abraham Lincoln uses the Presidential Office for the first time in history to call for volunteers to enforce the power of the future nation over the individual states.’ When everyone has left, he wipes the tears from his eyes and goes into prayer. ‘The Stoneman brothers leave to join their regiment.’ They are both in uniform and the atmosphere is cheerful. Elsie says goodbye to them and makes a cool shooting gesture, but when they have left she has a hard time with it and has to be comforted by her mother.

(The first major battle took place on July 21, 1861 at ‘Bull Run creek’. Union troops marched from Washington and encountered Confederate troops at Bull Run creek. A powerful Confederate counterattack drove the Union troops to Washington). ‘After the first battle of Bull Run (July 21, 1861), on the eve of the departure of its quota of troops for the front, a farewell ball takes place in Piedmont with ‘fireworks in the streets’ (in red virage). It seems that everyone is cheerful and excited. ‘While the youth dance the night away, the elderly and children slumber.’ Dr. Cameron is sleeping in his chair, while Flora is sleeping on the couch. Bennie enters the room and wakes Flora with the ‘Confederate Flag.’ But she immediately goes back to sleep under the flag. ‘The first flag of the Confederacy is baptized in glory at Bull Run.’ Bennie walks, with the help of a lady, through the partying crowd with the stretched flag with stars and champagne is clinked. ‘At dawn it is time for the troops to leave.’ A horn signal is sounded in a narrow circular vignette (00:30:33), the dancing revelers hear it and stop dancing (acoustic link 00:30:39). The troops leave the party and go to the roll call place. Dr. Cameron wakes up and so does Flora. Bennie enters the room, picks Flora up and together they walk to ‘their State Flag (of South Carolina), the spirit of the South’ that hangs above the door and on which ‘Victory or Death and we must conquer, for our cause is just’. Ben Cameron’s father, mother and two brothers pass by under the flag. The mother says goodbye to her sons: ‘A gift from a mother for a good cause, giving up three sons for the war.’ Preceded by music and with their banners raised, including the Confederate Flag, the troops march through the city, while bystanders wave to them. Ben Cameron is also in full uniform, accompanied by Flora and Margaret in the portico. He says goodbye to his mother, mounts his horse and is waved goodbye by Flora, Margaret and the entire population. Behind the horsemen, the soldiers walk on foot with the bayonet raised on their weapons. Father and mother Cameron look concerned and mother comforts Flora and Margaret. (In the north) ‘ Elsie Stoneman tells her father, returning to her aunt’s house in Washington, that her brothers have left for the front.’ Stoneman reassures her.

‘Two and a half years later, Ben Cameron receives a letter from home in the field: ‘and you’ve actually grown a mustache, oh my! I’m so eager to see you. I’m getting taller too. They say I’ve become such a big girl, you wouldn’t recognize me anymore. xxxxxx (kisses). Your little, crossed out, big Sister.’ ‘News from the front. The little sister wears her last good dress as a ceremonial act while reading her brother’s letter.’ Flora stands at the door and is accompanied by Margaret (Flora has indeed grown: here Mae Marsh begins to play the role of Flora). Both have beautiful dresses and a nice parasol and start for a walk. But ‘Piedmont has been damaged by the war. A ragtag group of guerrilla’s invades the city. The first Negro regiments of the war are raised in South Carolina. ’ The population flees through the streets as Negro troops rush in in loose Union uniforms. Margaret and Flora try to return home as quickly as possible and are met inside by a concerned Dr. Cameron, who is already walking around with a revolver. Residents are shot in the streets. Flora and Margaret hide in the side room while irregular black soldiers force the front door and enter. ‘The corrupt white captain tries to get the Negro militia to follow his orders.’ Dr. Cameron faces the white captain and his black soldiers, is disarmed and thrown to the ground. The soldiers demolish and plunder the interior and panic reigns in the side room. Margaret, Flora and mother flee to the back room and close the sliding doors. There they disappear through a hatch in the cellar where Flora embraces the frightened Margaret.

‘A company of Confederate state troops (in light uniforms in contrast to the dark uniforms of the Union (black) soldiers is informed of the attack.’ Meanwhile, the irregular troops continue to demolish the interior of the Cameron house. The residents of other houses are chased out and shot. A whole group of Confederate soldiers advances to Piedmont where the irregular troops, in red virage, set fires and also at the Cameron’s the house is already burning. ‘The Confederates come to the rescue’ and chase the Union troops away. In the basement, Flora and Margaret hear that the invaders have left. After the rescue Flora, the black housekeeper and Margaret thank the rescuer soldiers. Dr. Cameron has a bandage on his head and the whole family embraces and comforts each other, while the black housekeeper dries her tears with her apron.

‘Letters from home bring back sweet dreams for the ‘little Colonel.’ He puts the letter in his inner pocket and finds the folder with Elsie’s photo there. He looks at her with feelings of love (eyeball POV 00:43:04), thinks that he cannot actually look amourously at a girl from the enemy camp, but decides to keep the photo.

‘On the battlefield, war demands its bitter, senseless sacrifices.’ ‘True to their promise, the comrades (Tod Stoneman and Duke Cameron) meet again. Duke Cameron takes shelter in the bushes on the battlefield. As he gets up he is hit by a bullet and collapses. Tod Stoneman approaches and wants to pierce his opponent with his bayonet, but he recoils when he recognizes Duke. Duke breathes his last and Tod is also hit by a bullet and falls next to his comrade, with his arm over Duke’s chest. And then Tod dies too. ‘The news of the death of the youngest Cameron’ reaches Dr. Cameron by letter. Mother, Margaret and Flora look defeated. ‘Others also read war’s sad page.’ We see Austin Stoneman and Elsie, who received the sad letter about Tod’s death, standing in a round, out-of-focus black vignette (00:45:22). Elsie cries and is comforted by her father.

‘The last of their most cherished possessions are sold for the failing cause.’ The Cameron’s give up their finest garments to a Confederate soldier and are left in shabby clothes. Flora parades it like at a fashion show (as The Dear One does in ‘Intolerance’: both Mae Marsh). ‘Elsie Stoneman goes to work as a nurse in military hospitals.’ She says goodbye to her parents and leaves. ‘While the women and children weep, a great conqueror marches toward the sea.’ In a narrow circular black vignette we see a mother and her children sitting amid the debris of a house on the hill (00:47:02), while an entire army marches below them. (This is Sherman’s March to the Sea: a military campaign in which the commander-in-chief of the Union forces led his troops from Atlanta through Georgia to Savannah (on the ocean coast), using scorched earth tactics. After this, Sherman continued his campaign north through South Carolina, taking even more devastating action.) The homeless mother tries to protect her three children while a house burns below. ‘The torch of war against the breast of Atlanta: the bombing and the flight.’ Atlanta is on fire (red virage) and the population flees in panic. At 00:48:59, 00:50:19 and 00:50:33 we see a double-exposed shot with the fleeing inhabitants in the middle and bottom of the frame and (second exposure) the burning city in the upper third. We see how ‘Wade, the second son of the Cameron’s dies’ (00:49:52). The entire chaotic exodus is depicted in red virage.

‘The last gray days of the Confederacy: On the battle lines before Petersburg, parched corn is their only food.’ The soldiers lie in a ditch and are each given a portion of dry grain to eat. ‘A sorely needed Confederate food shipment has been misdirected and seized on the other side of Union lines.’ ‘General Lee orders an attempt to force a breakthrough and rescue the food shipment. A bombardment and a flanking movement begin to cover the attack.’ ‘The action begins before dawn with an artillery duel from a distance.’ Shots are fired back and forth (in red virage) and grenades explode. ‘The ‘little Colonel’ is ordered to attack at an agreed time. The men are lying in trenches ‘that are only a few hundred feet away from those of the opponent. ’ There is shooting back and forth, clouds of smoke fly over the battlefield and ‘ pieces of artillery are placed in concealment.’ There are soldiers carrying a banner into no man’s land. ‘Stationed field artillery shoots from behind wooden palisades and a smoke screen. ’ ‘The mortars’ hit with brute force. ‘The little Colonel leads the final desperate attack against the Union command of Captain Phil Stoneman (Elsie’s brother). He encourages his men, after which they leave the trenches en masse and enter no man’s land. They are shot at from the enemy trenches and immediately there are casualties. But Ben Cameron continues and rushes towards the enemy, which we see in a backward tracking shot at 00:57:33. In a round black out-of-focus vignette, the Confederate soldiers reach the Union soldiers’ line (00:58:09) and stab the enemy with their bayonets. It’s a hand-to-hand fight. ‘Two lines of trenches are captured, but only a small portion of his regiment remains to continue the attack. With all hope lost, the little colonel temporarily pauses the battle before the final attack to succor a fallen enemy.’ In front of the Confederate trenches lies a dying Union soldier, who Ben Cameron gives something to drink. ‘The Union soldiers (led by Phil Stoneman) applaud this heroic act.’ But now Ben Cameron is pushing his men to engage the enemy. There are numerous victims in this charge. Cameron is also hit, falls down, but straightens up, picks up the banner with the Confederate flag and, while Phil Stoneman issues orders to the enemy, runs towards the enemy line. He plants the Confederate Flag in the barrel of a Union cannon (01:00:53, the most iconic image of this film) before crashing. Phil Stoneman gives the order to stop shooting, comes out of the trench, picks up Ben Cameron, holds him as a friend and puts him in his own trench. ‘In the red lane of death, others take the places of the fallen and the battle continues all night long.’ Almost all of these battle scenes have a black vignette in one form or another that adds to the drama.

‘The war ends in peace.’ In blue, cold, virage we see the bodies of the fallen on the battlefield. The battlefield is still smoldering, ammunition is still exploding here and there and white flags are being waved. ‘The North is victorious.’ A battered Confederate soldier comes to bring the Cameron’s ‘the news that their second son Wade has been killed and that the eldest is seriously injured in a hospital in Washington’. The Cameron’s are defeated and only Flora reacts in anger: ‘War, the breeder of hate.’ ‘The woman’s part’ (in the suffering): in close-up we see Margaret being comforted by a distraught Flora.

‘The little colonel is in the military hospital set up in the Patents Office where Elsie Stoneman works as a nurse.’ The entire hospital scene shows acting in the foreground, but also a detailed action in deep space (01:05:22 - 01:13:06). Elsie walks with a mandolin in a beautiful dress through the hospital ward where Ben Cameron is lying. She sits by his bed and sings in close-up and within a small round black vignette (01:05:44, 01:05:56 and 01:06:07) to Ben who we also see in a round black vignette (01:05:50): for a moment their world is limited to the two of them. Ben opens his eyes and sees Elsie, who is reading to him a letter she received from her brother: ‘Above all, remember my request that you use your influence for the welfare of my old boarding school friend Colonel Ben Cameron, who has been admitted to your hospital. Love from your brother Phil.’ Ben says: ‘Although we have never met, I carried you with me for a very long time’ and he takes out the photo folder with Elsie’s photo from under his pillow. Elsie opens the folder, sees (eyeball POV 01:07:09) her own portrait and is speechless.

‘Mother Cameron comes from Piedmont to visit her stricken eldest son.’ A soldier stops her at the door, but she says: ‘I’m going into that room to see my son. You may shoot me if you want to.’ Elsie stands by Ben’s bed and holds his hand and mother kneels next to a delirious Ben. But then he opens his eyes and sees his mother. The army surgeon comes to Ben’s bedside and says: ‘A secret influence has sentenced Colonel Cameron to be hanged as a guerrilla.’ (Ben Cameron is in the hospital of the Union, the enemy. A hidden political force, unjust, ignoring military honor and justice, punishes the opponent for political reasons and makes him a hero who is wronged. Ben becomes falsely labeled a guerrilla so that he can be legally executed instead of being treated as a normal prisoner of war. This implies that the Union authorities are corrupt and vindictive. In a broader context, this means that the Reconstruction Era rulers are political manipulators and that Southern whites are victims of unjust punishment). Mother is appalled and gestures to the army doctor that this cannot be true, but it is. Elsie says: ‘We will ask mercy from ‘the Great Heart.’ Elsie and mother go to an audience with President Lincoln (who is portrayed as gentle, compassionate and not harsh towards the Southern States). ‘The mother’s appeal.’ At first, Lincoln gestures that he cannot take legal action, but then he decides to write an indemnifying order anyway. Mother kneels before him and Elsie is relieved. They get back to Ben and mom says: ‘Mr. Lincoln has given back your life to me.’ ‘Now that her son is recovering, Mrs. Cameron returns to Piedmont to be with her weakened husband.’ She thanks Elsie for her help and Elsie sits back down at Ben’s bed, who looks deeply into her eyes. She averts her gaze and gestures that Ben should not look at her like that. ‘Mother comes home with the good news’ where Dr. Cameron sits weakly in a chair. Flora is delighted.

‘The Surrender of General Robert E. Lee, Confederate State Army to General U.S. Grant, United States Army on April 9, 1865 in the courthouse in Appomattox.’ Lee and Grant each sit at their own table and sign the declaration. This is ‘The end of the sovereignty of the States, according to the ideas of Daniel Webster (lawyer and secretary): Liberty and union, one and inseparable, now and forever.’ The statements are exchanged and the opponents shake hands, while Grant, very cheeky, keeping his cigar in his mouth and his hand in his pocket. Civilized behaviour is apparently not a thing for the Northern states. ‘On the same day, Colonel Cameron is discharged and he leaves for home.’ Elsie sees him off and he wants to kiss her, but she prevents him from doing so and it turns into a kiss on the hand. As he leaves, Cameron holds his hand over his heart.

‘The feast for the returning brother.’ Flora has on the plate: ‘parched corn’ and there is ‘sweet potato coffee.’ The black housekeeper decorates Flora’s dress with pieces of lace and Flora puts cotton wool on her dress on which she applies dots with paint (in medium close): ‘southern ermine, made of raw cotton, for the grand occasion.’ She looks at herself in the mirror and is pleased with the result, although she does find it a bit shabby. But Margaret and mother think the dress is beautiful. ‘The homecoming.’ Ben Cameron arrives at his parental home in the battered street and the whole family is waiting expectantly inside. Flora opens the door and receives Bennie, in his tattered uniform, in her shabbily decorated dress. Bennie picks some cotton wool. Both are happy and Flora falls into Ben’s arms, but at the same time this scene also radiates sadness. When Ben stops in the front doorway, his mother puts her arm around his neck.

‘The Radical leaders protest against Lincoln’s policy of clemency for the South.’ Austin Stoneman comes to visit Lincoln and rails against him rather rudely: ‘Their leaders should be hanged and their states treated as conquered provinces.’ But Lincoln disagrees: ‘I will deal with them as if they had never been away.’ ‘The South starts rebuilding under Lincoln’s fostering hand.’ Ben Cameron comes out with Flora and one of his black helpers to repair the damage to the house, while Margaret and Mother are busy with the ‘Boarding’ sign.’ ‘And then, while the terrible days are over and a peaceful recovery period occurs… comes the fateful night of April 14, 1865.

Elsie Stoneman is parading in her father’s house in a beautiful dress. Her brother Phil comes to pick her up and suggests to Austin Stoneman that they should go ‘to the theater’. There is ‘a gala performance, in the presence of the president and his staff, to celebrate the surrender of General Lee.’ Stoneman is not into that and Phil and Elsie leave for the Ford’s theater. In an extremely narrow eccentric circular vignette (01:24:40), Elsie and Phil enter the room. The vignette opens and we now see the room in its full size. At the front, near the stage, is the double box with Union flags, intended for Lincoln and his staff. The hall is full and Elsie looks at the stage with her opera glasses. ‘This is where ‘Our American Cousin’ is played, starring Laura Keene.’ The curtain rises and the play begins. (British actress and theater manager) Laura Keene enters to loud applause. ‘At 8:30 PM the President arrives with Mrs. Lincoln and their staff.’ They take their seats in the boxes. Elsie and Phil see them appear and clap for the president. ‘Mr. Lincoln’s personal bodyguard positions himself outside the presidential box.’ Lincoln nods from his box to the audience and the entire room waves their handkerchiefs at the president. ‘To get a view of the play, the bodyguard leaves his post’ and is going to sit in an adjacent box. ‘Time 10:13 PM, Act III, scene 2. John Wilkes Booth emerges from the adjacent box, walks into the president’s box with his gun drawn and shoots and kills him from behind. Booth jumps out of the box onto the stage and shouts: ‘Sic semper tyrannis!’ (That’s how it always goes with tyrants) and flees. Panic reigns in the box and Elsie and Phil are stunned. Lincoln slumps limply in his chair, the room is in confusion, Phil and Elsie leave and Lincoln is carried away.

‘Stoneman is informed of the murder’ and Elsie and Phil arrive home excited. The mulatto housekeeper Lydia Brown whispers to Stoneman that this is not such a bad thing after all and rubs her hands: ‘You are now the strongest power in America.’ She snuggles sweetly against him. The fluttering papers on the table (01:30:20) and the fluttering flaps of Lydia’s dress (01:30:21 – 01:30:32) show that this scene was shot in a daylight/open-air studio. ‘The news reaches the South’: Dr Cameron reads in the newspaper: ‘Assassination of President Lincoln and attempted assassination of Secretary Seward.’ The entire family reacts with great concern: ‘Our best friend is gone, what is to become of us now?’ ‘End of the first part.’

‘Part Two, Reconstruction. The pain and misery that the South has to go through at the birth of a nation. The blight of war does not stop with the cessation of hostilities.’ ‘This is a historical account of the Civil War and the Reconstruction Period and is not intended to reflect on any race or people of today.’ ‘Excerpts from Woodrow Wilson’s ‘History of the American People’: …Adventurers, enemies of both races, swarmed from the North to cozen, beguile and use the Negroes… (these are the carpet-baggers). In the villages the Negroes were office holders, men who knew nothing of the exercise of authority, except its insolences. The political decisions of the leaders in Congress led to a real overthrow of civilization in the South…. in their determination to put the white South under the heel of the black South.’ ‘The white men were roused by a mere instinct of self-preservation… until finally a great Klu Klux Klan was formed, a veritable empire of the South, to protect the Southern country. Woodrow Wilson.’

(The meaning of this text is: blacks in Southern States were given government positions, but could not exercise political power responsibly, abused their power and were therefore unfit for citizenship and leadership. Griffith does not use literal quotes, but Wilson’s ‘History’ literally says: ‘Negroes, men who had never known freedom sat in the chairs of the state and made laws for white people. Black legislators, unprepared and without knowledge were easy to manipulate.’ Remarkably, Wilson distanced himself from the film after initial praise when it was screened at the White House, but never took back the racist content of his book).

‘The Uncrowned King.’ ‘The Executive Mansion of the Nation has shifted from the White House to this strange house on Capitol Hill’, where we see Austin Stoneman conferring with fellow ’s. When he drops his stick, the gentlemen standing around him obligingly pick it up. Lydia Brown comes in and acts like the president’s wife and is treated as such. ‘Stoneman’s protégé, Silas Lynch, a mulatto and leader of the blacks’, reports to Lydia Brown.

(Silas Lynch is a historical figure born to a white father and a black mother who became deputy governor of South Carolina. Under Lynch, the vast majority of delegates to the House of Representatives were black.)

Lydia introduces Lynch to Stoneman. Upon entering, Silas humbly bows to Stoneman, who tells him not to do that again: ‘Don’t scrape to me. You are the equal of every man present here.’ ‘The great Radical leader (leader of the radical wing of the Republicans) delivers the edict that blacks shall be raised to full equality with the whites.’ In the side room, Lydia Brown, who hears this, walks around shouting lyrically (acoustic link 01:35:15). And Stoneman, placing his hand on Lynch’s shoulder, makes a gesture of elevation (01:35:25). ‘Senator Sumner (who humiliated Lydia on an earlier visit) comes to visit and is forced to acknowledge the position of the mulatto (Lydia).’ Lydia, to his annoyance, now behaves self-consciously and cheers (in medium-close) when Sumner has walked on to Stoneman. ‘The senator insists on a less dangerous policy in expanding the power of the freed race.’ Lydia Brown hears this in the side room (acoustic link 01:36:43) and her face falls at once. Stoneman, in the presence of Silas Lynch, reacts angrily to Sumner’s vision and says menacingly: ‘I shall make this man, Silas Lynch, a symbol of his race, the peer of any white man living.’ This is what Lydia, who is listening at the door, hears with pleasure.

‘Sowing the wind.’ ‘Stoneman, ill at his daughter’s apartments, sends Lynch to the South to help the ‘carpet-baggers’ (corrupt, opportunistic adventurers from the North who seek political and financial gain in the South) organizing and wielding the negro vote.’ Stoneman lies weak in a chair under a blanket and instructs Silas Lynch, who clearly has a crush on Elsie. Elsie, who cares for her sick father, finds that rather uncomfortable. ‘Lynch makes Piedmont his headquarters’ and sets up his office there. ‘The start of fermentation: making the blacks celebrate and inducing the negroes to put down their work.’ Silas Lynch does his best to get a negroe to put down his rake, but he refuses. Meanwhile, a whole group of black people are celebrating while dancing. Two other agricultural workers are encouraged to give up their work. A sign reads: ‘Equality, equal rights, equal politics, equal marriages and forty acres and a mule for every colored citizen.’ ‘The Freedman’s Bureau: negroes get free food. The charity of the generous North is abused to delude the ignorant.’ The food is distributed to negroes in top hats.

Silas Lynch walks down the street in front of the Cameron’s. Ben and Flora Cameron are just coming out the door and a group of black soldiers walk towards them. The soldiers collide with Ben and their leader behaves rudely and aggressively. Silas Lynch also corrects the indignant Ben: ‘ This sidewalk belongs to us as much as it belongs to you, Colonel Cameron.’ ‘Stoneman, who has been advised by his doctor to seek a milder climate and who also wants to see first-hand how his politics are implemented, leaves for South Carolina’ and is accompanied by Elsie and Phil. ‘Their arrival in Piedmont. Influenced by his children, he has chosen the Cameron’s’ hometown for his stay.’ Phil, Elsie and their father emerge from the carriage in front of the Cameron’s’ door and are welcomed by Ben. They come to live in the house next to that of the Cameron’s. The black coachman wants to hand the luggage to the black housekeeper, but she refuses to accept it: ‘You northern low down black trash, don’t try no airs on me.’ And she gestures for him to take the luggage away himself. Flora runs to Elsie and showers her with kisses. The black housekeeper also has a run-in with a black servant that Stoneman has brought along and says in black dialect: ‘Those free niggers from the North have really gone crazy.’

‘Lynch’s second meeting with Ben Cameron. The black’s condescension.’ Stoneman is speaking to Elsie and Ben outside the door when Lynch appears. Elsie and Ben have no desire to speak to Lynch, but are introduced to him by Stoneman. But Ben adopts a threatening posture, does not answer Lynch’s outstretched hand and looks away. Stoneman is furious and looks at a list that Lynch brought with him and gives Lynch an assignment, pointing to the Cameron ’s house. ‘Lynch is a traitor to his white patron and is an even greater traitor of his own people, whom he plans to maliciously encourage to build himself a throne of excessive power.’ Lynch leaves Stoneman bowing, but once in the hallway he rages at him.

‘The election campaign for the Southern Union League.’ In a room full of blacks and a few white people, agitators stand to argue for their position. Stoneman and Lynch are at the door. A black man looks with his eye through a peephole in the door. The two are let in, Lynch gives a speech and ‘Stoneman is the guest of honor.’ The blacks in the room listen to a combative Lynch and respond enthusiastically. ‘Enrolling the vote of the Negroes, the right to vote for all blacks.’ A Negro says to a carpet-bagger in Negro dialect: ‘If I don’t get enough suffrage to fill my bucket, I don’t want it at all.’

‘The fire of love is still heard above the misery of the country.’ Silas Lynch is outside playing with his dog and sees Elsie and Ben walking. He takes shelter behind a tree and sees (in eyeball POV 01:47:38 – 01:48:22) how Elsie and Ben are making love through a white dove. Elsie kisses the pigeon’s beak in a powerful backlight and Ben kisses the back of the pigeon’s head. And he immediately wants to give Elsie a kiss, but she stops him. ‘The token of love.’ Elsie comes home and has the dove with her as a symbol of love. She kisses the beak of the bird, Ben Cameron’s substitute. ‘Sad memories will not allow the poor bruised heart of the South to forget.’ Margaret sits in the garden with a sad look. Rose petals pass through her hands and fall to the ground: Margaret thinks there is no lover for her (01:48:55). But on the other side of the fence is Phil Stoneman watching Margaret. He goes to her, speaks to her and grabs her shoulder. Margaret reacts defensively and haughtily and she squeezes a rose in her hand (01:50:00). She imagines her brother Wade dying on the battlefield (mental POV in blue virage 01:50:04) and cannot enter into a relationship with the man responsible for this. ‘Still a division between North and South in which pride battles with love to conquer the heart.’ Elsie and Ben walk through the park and he embraces her and pulls her to him. But Elsie distances herself and nods ‘no’. She walks away, but she can’t take it anymore and bursts into tears. Ben comforts her and now Elsie says ‘yes’ and presses herself against Ben, whereupon Ben kisses her. ‘I’ll make sure you get home safely.’ Ben accompanies Elsie home. ‘Love’s rhapsodies and love’s tears.’ Elsie runs into her bedroom, she is elated and dances chaotically and madly in love around her room. In close-up she holds the upright pillar of her bed and kisses the pillar (an image with a rather phallic association), while a tear runs down her cheeks.

‘Election Day. All blacks are allowed to vote while the leading whites are disfranchised.’ We see a black man quietly cast two votes while two white men are rejected at the polling station and then roughly pushed away by a black soldier. Dr. Cameron also wants to vote, but it is also made impossible for him to vote, after which the soldier chases him away. ‘The results are received, the blacks and the ‘carpet-baggers’ win a huge victory in the state and Silas Lynch is elected Lieutenant Governor.’ He enthusiastically shows the result to Stoneman, who also reacts very happily and Elsie congratulates her father. An irregular group of black soldiers passes through the street where the Cameron’s live and ‘celebrates the election victory’ by shooting into the air. Flora is terrified and has to seek comfort from Margaret and mother. ‘Encouraged by Stoneman’s radical teachings, Lynch takes his love to the next level.’ He keeps his eyes on Elsie, who is looking for papers. Outside, Lynch is shouldered by the blacks. Stoneman sees that from his window and thinks it’s wonderful, but Elsie is a bit concerned.

Ben Cameron tells a group, including his father, about a series of (legal) scandals that have occurred: ‘The case was tried before a black magistrate and the verdict rendered by a black jury went against the whites.’ In mental POV (01:56:38 – 01:57:06) we see a courtroom with a black judge and an all-black jury. In the room sits a mulatto man with a white child and a white woman, among blacks. A black criminal is acquitted. Ben Cameron continues with his argument (mental POV 01:57:14 - 01:58:32): White people are terrorized on the street by black soldiers on the loose and white people are evicted from their homes, after which black soldiers divide the property. An old man gets a mean shove. ‘Even while Ben Cameron is talking, the family’s loyal servant is being punished for not voting with the Union League and the Carpet-baggers.’ Two blacks, one with a top hat, talk to the black servant and take him away with an excuse. Suddenly, black soldiers appear and tie him up to chastise them. (Black servants are punished for their loyalty to their owners). The servant’s black master misses his servant and finds him tied to a tree while blacks beat him on the back with sticks and whips. The black master rushes to help his servant but is shot by a black soldier. All blacks flee, the servant breaks free from the tree and sees that his boss is dead. Ben Cameron’s hand forms into a claw (01:58:34) and then into a fist as the group listens breathlessly to him. ‘The faithful soul gains Dr. Cameron’s sympathy.’ Dr. Cameron supports the black servant and takes him home, where Ben finds that the clothing on his back is completely torn.

‘The riot in the Master’s Hall. The Negro Party is in control of the South Carolina State House of Representatives: 101 blacks to 23 whites in the 1871 session.’ We see the empty Master’s Hall fill with mostly black delegates via a fade at 01:59:56. There are only blacks on the balcony. In the foreground a black man wearing a top hat drinks from a bottle of liquor. ‘Historical events in the first legislative session during Reconstruction. The Honorable Member for Ulster’ takes a bottle of drink from under a book and takes a swig. And another member has his legs on the table and takes off his shoe, showing us his bare foot. ‘The chairman of the meeting orders that all members must wear shoes.’ Another member devours an entire meal while standing. ‘It is moved and carried that all whites should salute the Negro soldiers on the streets.’ The parliament looks like a total chaos. ‘The helpless white minority’ is a small orderly group that has no say in it. There are a few ‘white visitors in the gallery’ who are being looked at angrily by the blacks. ‘A law is passed that makes the marriage of blacks and whites possible.’ The blacks in the room look at the two attractive white women on the balcony. When the law is passed, there is a jubilant mood in the room. Silas Lynch stands among the enthusiastic black delegates.

‘Later begins the grim reaping’ (of this policy). Flora Cameron and Elsie Stoneman meet at the Cameron’s’ door and walk into the garden. ‘Gus, the renegade, product of the evil doctrines spread by the carpet-baggers’ is at the gate. Flora and Elsie meet a servile Silas Lynch, who still has a crush on Elsie. Ben Cameron sees the meeting and is very annoyed. Flora points out to Elsie that the way Silas looks at her is not acceptable, but Elsie downplays it. ‘Ben Cameron is sitting outside in nature, in agony over the degradation and ruin of his people.’ What to do? He sees two white children playing with a sheet. They sit down and hide under the sheet. And then four black children come running. They see the sheet with two figures underneath moving, are scared to death (they think it’s haunted) and start running. This is for Ben Cameron ‘The inspiration.’ Now he knows how to tackle the problems of the South. ‘The result: The Ku Klux Klan, the organization that saved the South from the anarchy of black rule, but not without shedding of more blood than Gettysburg, according to Judge Tourgee of the carpet-baggers.’

(The term Ku Klux Klan comes from the Greek ‘kuklos’: circle or brotherhood and Klan for clan, leading to the alliterative KKK, and was founded by army officers in 1865. The decisive and very bloody battle between the Union and Confederate armies took place in Gettysburg on July 1 and 3, 1863, with which the Union was definitively victorious. Albion W. Tourgée was a prominent carpet-bagger and Republican judge in North Carolina who supported the rights of blacks, rewrote the North Carolina Constitution, and described Reconstruction from a Northern perspective ).

We see two Ku Klux Klan men on horseback, dressed in white clothing, just like their horses. ‘Their first visit to scare a black troublemaker who set fire to a barn.’ Three KKK men in their ghostly suits visit two blacks, who are terrified and flee. ‘Lynch’s supporters score the first blood against the Ku Klux.’ Silas Lynch is standing with the two startled Negroes and a few Negro soldiers in the bushes when the Ku Klux men arrive. One of them is shot off his horse while a horse is also killed. ‘The New Rebellion of the South.’ Silas Lynch, excited and angry, walks into Stoneman’s house wearing two KKK uniforms and explains what happened. Stoneman is outraged and determined to take action: ‘We will crush the white South under the heel of the black South.’ And to his daughter Elsie he says: ‘Your sweetheart belongs to this murderous band of outlaws.’ He shows her the uniforms of the KKK. Elsie is shocked, fully supports her father and, like her father, develops an angry and bitter look.

‘The tryst.’ ‘After her suspicions are confirmed, she breaks off the engagement in loyalty to her father.’ She meets Ben and immediately confronts him about the KKK uniform. Ben immediately rolls it up and hides it under his jacket. Elsie stands there with wide, angry eyes and pushes him away. She wants nothing more to do with Ben but also says: ‘But don’t be afraid that I will betray you.’ ‘More than 400,000 Ku Klux costumes were made by the women in the South and not a single case of betrayal took place.’ Flora, Margaret and mother are eager to be helpful. But Ben still thinks about Elsie (mental POV 02:11:37, 02:11:49). Ben’s ‘little sister comforts her sad lovelorn brother’ by showering him with kisses. Elsie is distraught with grief. The wind blowing through her blouse and bed linen clearly shows that this scene was recorded in an outdoor studio (02:12:39). Meanwhile, Margaret, Flora and Mother sew costumes for the KKK.

‘Against her brother’s warning, Flora goes alone to the spring’ to get water. But then Gus (product of the evil teachings spread by the carpet-baggers) enters the picture and goes after Flora. Flora arrives at the well and fills her bucket. The somewhat naive Flora looks at a squirrel in the tree that is nibbling on a nut. Flora watches the squirrel (eyeball POV 02:14:56, 02:15:03, 02:15:21, 02:15:33 and 02:15:41) while Gus watches Flora (eyeball POV 02:15:16 and 02:15:31). Ben comes home and hears from mother that Flora has gone to the well to get water and is immediately very worried. He goes after it. Meanwhile, Gus suddenly appears at Flora’s and says: ‘You see, I’m a captain now and I want to get married.’ Flora, in an oppressive round black vignette (02:16:30) doesn’t know what to do with this and feels threatened. Gus grabs her arm, but she slaps him and flees screaming in panic. Gus gives chase and shouts: ‘Wait, miss, I don’t want to hurt you.’ Meanwhile, Ben Cameron is also on his way to the well. Flora runs through the woods but cannot escape Gus. Ben finds Flora’s bucket at the well and finds Gus’s military jacket near the tree where Flora was sitting. Now he’s all worried. Flora hides in the bushes, runs further through the forest and climbs onto a rock. Gus continues to chase her and now also climbs up the rocks. Flora has no way out, while Ben shouts her name very loudly. Flora shouts at Gus: ‘Stay away or I’ll jump!’ Now we see how high the cliff she is standing on is (02:19:32). And then, to his horror, Ben sees the cliff (02:19:38). Flora is – in medium close-up – panicky, jumps, falls on rocks and continues to roll for a while. Ben Cameron climbs up the rock, finds the cap of Gus, who has fled in panic, and sees from the rock that Flora is lying below. At the foot of the rock he finds Flora limp and seriously injured. She whispers what happened and then dies in his arms. Ben is bursting with anger and hatred. ‘For her who had learned the stern lesson of honor (for a girl) we should not grieve that she found sweeter the opal gates of death.’ Ben comes home with Flora in his arms and lays her on the couch. Mother sees her and realizes that she is dead and Ben tells Margaret, who also comes running, what happened. Margaret and mother mourn - in light dimmed by diaphragm - at Flora. ‘And none grieved more than these’, namely the black housekeeper and servant.

‘The son’s plea against his father’s radical policy.’ Phil Stoneman argues to his father that this cannot continue. But Stoneman is convinced he is right. Margaret tries to stop the dogged Ben, but he determinedly picks up the KKK costume that lies as a pillow under Flora’s head and leaves. ‘Gus hides in ‘white-arm’ Joe’s illegal bar’ (white-arm is a nickname without much meaning). In this raucous pub there are all blacks to whom Gus tells what he has experienced. Ben Cameron reports to the wheelwright and his companions, one of whom lifts an anvil with ease (which shows his strength). ‘Townsmen who have been enlisted to find the accused Gus so that he can receive a fair trial in the dim halls of the Invisible Empire.’ (1. Gus has not yet been charged by a recognized justice. 2. A fair trial cannot occur outside the justice system. 3. Twilight halls hold secret meetings. 4. The Invisible Empire is the term the KKK used for its organization.) The wheelwright and his servant take off their aprons and go to the illegal pub. Gus hides under the bar while the journeyman goes in and asks if Gus is there. When he wants to continue searching, he is stopped, knocks down his opponent and takes out a number of blacks. But then Gus comes out from behind the bar. The servant takes care of the entire black bar with his own hands. He picks Gus up and takes him outside. But then one of the blacks shoots the servant from the pub and Gus also pulls out a revolver and shoots the servant with it. The wheelwright sees his servant lying there and runs and shoots after Gus, who has stolen a horse. Gus is shot off the horse and grabbed by Ben Cameron and his buddies.

‘The Trial (in red virage).’ We see men in KKK costumes, with riders and horses in this clothing in the background. Gus is roughly led over and forced to his knees. Meanwhile (in cold blue virage) sits Dr. Cameron, his wife and Margaret with the dead Flora. A KKK member has taken off his head covering: it is Ben Cameron who declares Gus ‘Guilty’. Gus is loaded across a horse and taken away. ‘On the steps of the Lieutenant Governor’s house comes the answer to the blacks and the carpet-baggers.’ There the dead Gus is thrown down by the KKK riders, with a plaque on his chest with ‘KKK’ and a skull. A little later, Ben returns home in his neat suit, with the rolled-up KKK costume under his arm. In the morning, Silas Lynch is dismayed to find the dead Gus on his doorstep. ‘Lynch accepts the challenge by sending reinforcements of the Negro militia into the streets.’ The dead Gus is deposited in Stoneman’s room and Silas Lynch is mad with rage.

‘Now that Lynch has become embroiled in the uprising, Stoneman leaves temporarily to avoid the consequences.’ We see him leave in a carriage. ‘The Clan members prepare for action.’ In red virage, Ben Cameron dips the ‘Confederate Flag’ in a bowl of blood, saying: ‘Brethren (brothers of this community), this flag bears the red stain of a Southern woman’s life, a priceless sacrifice on the altar of a shamelessly violated society.’ Ben holds a burning cross up: ‘Here I raise the ancient symbol of an unconquered race of men, the fiery cross of Scotland’s hills. I quench its flames in the sweetest blood that ever stained the sands of Time.’ Ben Cameron dips the burning cross in the blood in the bowl and hands the cross to a man in civilian costume who sets off on horseback. He appears at another KKK group and delivers a message: ‘The summons to disarm all blacks that night is delivered to the leader of the nearby branch of the KKK / to the Titan of the adjoining county.’ By Silas Lynch, two mulatto ‘Spies are sent out to hunt whites in possession of a Ku Klux costume. The penalty — death.’ Margaret takes out a KKK costume from under her dress and from under the couch cushion. At the same time, the garden door in the back room is opened by the mulatto soldier. He looks under the curtain at Margatret who is hiding the costumes. Margaret feels like she is being spied on through the back door.

Silas Lynch gets drunk with liquor leaking down his face. Lynch learns from the spy that the Cameron’s are hiding KKK costumes and ‘is happy that he can finally take revenge on the Cameron House.’ He immediately writes out an order. ‘The sadness of crushed ideals.’ Elsie sits in her bedroom and is sad. ‘The scalawag white Captain’ comes to the house of the Cameron’s with a few black militia members ‘to arrest Dr. Cameron in accordance with the policy of the carpet-baggers.’ They walk in and ram open the door to the side room. The white captain indeed finds KKK costumes, which Margaret wants to get back. A scuffle unfolds between Margaret and the captain, at which point Dr. Cameron attacks the captain and the militiamen. But he is violently thrown over the couch, after which the militia members arrest him and take him away. Silas Lynch sees this happen with pleasure and a black person on the street cannot stop laughing. Mother Cameron is in despair. Margaret runs to ‘Elsie Stoneman (in the neighboring house) to ask her to have her father intervene’, but he is not there at all. Meanwhile, the black housekeeper of the Cameron’s rolls up her sleeves and knocks down the laughing black person in the street. ‘The faithful soul takes the initiative’ and mobilizes the black house servant to stand up for Dr. Cameron. Elsie runs around completely confused. ‘The chained ‘master’ has to parade before his former slaves.’ He is brought in chains by the white captain and scolded, spit on, threatened and laughed at by blacks. ‘In the hope of saving Dr. Cameron, the faithful souls pretend to join the mocking negroes.’ Meanwhile, they arrange for a cart driver to be ready for them. Dr. Cameron is beaten up by several blacks and dragged away by the white captain by the chain around his wrists. As soon as he gets close to the houseservant and the housekeeper, the housekeeper asks a soldier laughing: ‘Am I your equal, captain – just like every white man?’ And the housekeeper keeps the militia members busy. Dr. Cameron doesn’t know what to think about this. Margaret, mother and Phil Stoneman also rush over. The housekeeper throws her whole weight on the two militia members, the houseservant knocks down the captain and helps Cameron onto the waiting cart. Phil Cameron punches the white captain again and also shoots a militia member. Meanwhile, Dr. Cameron, mother, Margaret, the black houseservant and the black housekeeper are on the cart, which Phil also jumps on. ‘Elsie hears from the white Colonel that her brother Phil killed a black man while saving Dr. Cameron.’ In a frighteningly narrow black vignette we see the cart driving across the road away from us (02:42:29). ‘Meanwhile, Elsie awaits her father’s expected return.’

Silas Lynch is ‘The social lion of the new aristocracy.’ He converses in his home with free-spirited mulattoladies and Negro gentlemen, where a generous drink is served. The cart with which Dr. Cameron and associates are traveling loses a wheel, so they cannot continue and ‘the small log cabin inhabited by two (white) Union veterans (and a child) becomes their refuge.’ The party reports at the front door and despite the fact that these are ex-Union soldiers, they are welcome: ‘The former enemies of the North and the South are once again united in their common defense of their Aryan birthright.’ Meanwhile, the black militia is looking for them and two white spies disguised as blacks find the abandoned cart. ‘Elsie goes to the mulatto leader to ask for help because her father has not yet returned; she is unaware of Lynch’s designs on her.’ She first has to pass a few pushy young black soldiers. Lynch is partying with the ladies and his friends, but when he sees that Elsie is waiting for him, he sends everyone out and has the doors closed. Elsie requests that Dr. Cameron be released and Lynch immediately complies. But he also wants something himself: ‘Lynch proposes to Elsie to marry him.’ Elsie is astonished, she certainly doesn’t want that. Lynch becomes aggressive and Elsie tries to avoid him. ‘To her threat that he should be flogged for his insolence, comes Lynch’s response’: He opens the curtain and shows that outside there is an entire Negro militia threatening and hunting whites. And Lynch points to himself and gestures that he is in charge here. The militia on the street shoots into the air. ‘See! My people fill the streets. With them I will build a Black Empire and you as Queen will sit by my side.’ But Elsie doesn’t feel like it despite the fact that Lynch gets down on his knees and kisses the skirts of her dress. She flees to the door but Silas Lynch becomes more and more determined.

‘The clan members are summoned.’ Two clan members sit in costume with a burning cross on their horses and summon their fellow ’s. Meanwhile, Lynch menacingly chases Elsie across the room like a predator (02:50:38). At the same time, the first clan members are already speeding over land and through water. ‘Lynch, drunk on wine and power, orders his henchmen to quickly arrange a forced marriage, which horrifies Elsie. Elsie tries to flee again and open the door, but in vain. Meanwhile, the KKK riders cross a river. Lynch continues to pursue Elsie and she tries to talk sense into him. Brandishing a burning cross, the riders speed on. Lynch runs between the pieces of furniture after Elsie as his prey, while a large mass of KKK riders gather with Ben Cameron in medium close and in a circular black vignette (02:52:28) as the leader. Two KKK riders speed up a dirt path with their crosses crossed and are followed in a long backward tracking shot (02:52:51 – 02:53:06). Elsie is distraught as Lynch grabs her, causing her to swoon. Meanwhile, the carriage carrying Austin Stoneman arrives at his house. Lynch hears this and looks worriedly in the direction of the street (acoustic link 02:52:32). While Lynch holds the unconscious Elsie in his arms, Stoneman walks in and knocks on the sliding door. The soldier standing guard gestures that he cannot let anyone in. Meanwhile, Lynch drags the unconscious Elsie into the side room where he places her in a chair. Now Lynch opens the sliding doors and he says to Stoneman: ‘I want to marry a white woman.’ Stoneman thinks that’s a great idea. But if Lynch also says: ‘The lady I want to marry is your daughter.’ Now Stoneman reacts furiously and dismissively. The two KKK riders join the large group of riders led by Ben Cameron, after which ‘The massively assembled KKK riders set off on their appointed mission.’

‘And in the meantime another fate.’ We see Phil, Margaret and the child in the cabin waiting for what is to come. ‘The city is at the mercy of the crazed blacks brought in by Lynch and Stoneman to intimidate the whites.’ We see a chaotic scene with all blacks in the street. It is very busy. While Stoneman and Lynch argue, the KKK riders speed along and Elsie comes to her senses. She immediately starts looking for an escape route again, stands in front of the window screaming and smashes the window. This is noticed by two ‘white spies disguised’ as blacks. Stoneman wants to go to his daughter, but is roughly stopped by Lynch and Elsie is pulled away from the window by a black housekeeper and forced into the chair, where she swoons again. Stoneman isn’t feeling well either. The Negro militia looking for Dr. Cameron and his family finds the abandoned car. In the cabin, in addition to Phil, Margaret and the child, we also see Dr. Cameron, Mrs. Cameron and the two Union veterans. The black militia besieges the cabin and Phil fires back. ‘The Union veterans will not allow Dr. Cameron to surrender.’ The KKK riders are still on the move, the streets are in chaos and Elsie is sitting in the chair with a gag in her mouth.

Behind the windows of the houses, frightened, ‘helpless whites are watching’ at the chaos caused by the black militia present en masse on the streets, while whites are being murdered in the streets. ‘Sympathizers of the Ku Klux become victims of the black crowd’ and the victims are covered with tar and feathers. The white sheriff’s office is stormed.

In a very narrow oval vignette (03:00:57) we see the KKK storming across the fields. The white spies/informants inform them where their presence is most needed. At 03:01:33 we follow the riders in a backward tracking shot. The riders now enter Piedmont and face the shooting black militia. Several KKK members are killed as a result. At the cabin, the militiamen are still attacking from both sides while Phil and the veterans fire at them. Margaret, mother and the child huddle on the floor, desperate. But then five KKK riders arrive at the cabin. The black militia members shoot at them and two KKK members collapse to the ground while the rest flee. The black soldiers pierce the fallen men with their bayonet. In Piedmont, the black militia and the KKK riders still face each other. There is firing back and forth. But then in a backward tracking shot (03:03:47) we see how the riders rush towards the black militia, chase them away and thus clear the street. Meanwhile, Elsie is still gagged in the chair at Lynch and Stoneman’s house and Stoneman is being restrained with a bayonet by a black soldier. In a backward tracking shot (03:04:12) we see the black mob fleeing. Silas Lynch quickly hides in the house. Everyone flees, chased by KKK members who come from all sides. Elsie’s black guards flee and Elsie manages to get the gag out of her mouth, cheers and turns around, straight into the arms of Silas Lynch, who grabs her, lifts her up and drags her away. He passes Stoneman, who tries to free his daughter. The KKK fighters rush into Stoneman’s home and grab Lynch, causing Elsie to fall into her father’s arms. One of the KKK members puts his arm around Elsie and pulls up his mask: it is Ben Cameron. Elsie presses against him.

Two KKK members come to deliver the ‘News of the danger to the group in the besieged cabin’. Ben Cameron is informed and the KKK riders rush towards the cabin at breakneck speed. In a cramped little circular eccentric vignette (03:06:12) we see that the black militia has come very close to the cabin. Inside, Margaret, Mother and Dr. Cameron despair. Dr. Cameron holds Mother and Phil embraces Margaret. The black mob stands at the door and smashes a window. Black people who stick their heads in get a beating from Phil and the housekeeper. Now that the militia is about to force open the door of the cabin, everyone is gathered in the side room. Only one of the veterans remains and is killed. Phil, Margaret, Dr Cameron and the veteran try to barricade the doors, while the blacks try to open them with brute force. The KKK riders are still on the move. The situation has become untenable. The door where Margaret is standing opens a bit and a black militia member tries to grab her, but Dr. Cameron prevents this. There is a constant cut back and forth between the oncoming KKK, the people in the room trying to barricade the doors and the black mob trying to break open the doors. Mother Cameron holds the anxious child (in close-up at 03:08:22) close to her. But there is the Ku Klux Klan who makes the black soldiers give up the fight and drive them to flight. Suddenly the tension disappears. The clan members kill the blacks still in the cabin and Margaret, Phil and Dr. Cameron hug each other. ‘The black soldiers are disarmed’ and flee. A festive arrival of the KKK members in Piedmont takes place. Elsie, Margaret, Ben and Cameron ride in front. The black population flees. In the houses of the white people, where until recently people looked anxiously out of the window, there is now joy. At ‘the next elections’ the KKK is in charge and the blacks flee.

‘The aftermath.’ ‘A double wedding’ takes place on the seacoast. Phil and Margaret sit in an interior over which a seascape is projected with somewhat clumsy double exposure. Elsie and Ben, on the other hand, are actually sitting on a sea coast and look a bit pensive and not so cheerful. ‘Do we dare to dream of a golden day when the bestial War will no longer reign, but instead the gentle Prince will reign in the Hall of Brotherly Love in the City of Peace.’ We see a population next to a battlefield with masses of’s dead people and a kind of dark prince with a sword riding a pig. (The dark prince on the pig represents war, chaos and corruption leading to a battlefield full of deaths). In contrast, there is an idyllic scene with happy men and women and Christ in the background. Elsie and Ben look out over the sea with their hands together (in biblical symbolism the sea is wild, chaotic and violent, characteristic of the Reconstruction period). But then instead of the sea in split screen there is a beautiful city. (This is the new Jerusalem from Revelation in the Bible 21-22, a divine city that descends from heaven to the new earth after the end times, without war or suffering and in perfect harmony as the new America will look like. Ben standing for the noble South and Elsie standing for the North that has come to its senses together represent the new America.) ‘Liberty and union, one and inseperable, now and forever!’ The end.

Mental POV:

Margaret imagines her brother Wade dying on the battlefield (mental POV 01:50:04).

Ben Cameron tells a group about a series of (legal) scandals that have occurred: In mental POV (01:56:38 – 01:57:06) we see a courtroom with a black judge and an all-black jury. A black criminal is acquitted. Ben Cameron continues his argument (mental POV 01:57:14 – 01:58:32): White people are being terrorized on the streets by black soldiers on the loose.

Ben still thinks about Elsie (mental POV 02:11:37, 02:11:49) and Ben’s little sister comforts her sad brother.

Eyeball POV:

At 00:14:54 we see Elsie’s photo in extreme close-up in eyeball POV. Bennie closes the photo folder and puts it in his inner pocket right above his heart.

On the battlefield Ben Cameron finds the folder with Elsie’s photo in his pocket. He looks at her with feelings of love (eyeball POV 00:43:04) but thinks that he cannot actually be in love at a girl from the enemy camp.

Ben takes out the photo folder with Elsie’s photo from under his pillow in the hospital. Elsie opens the folder, sees (eyeball POV 01:07:09) her own portrait and is speechless.

Silas Lynch sees Elsie and Ben walking. He takes shelter behind a tree and sees (in eyeball POV 01:47:38 – 01:48:22) how Elsie and Ben are making love through a white dove.

Flora watches the squirrel (eyeball POV 02:14:56, 02:15:03, 02:15:21, 02:15:33 and 02:15:41) while Gus watches Flora (eyeball POV 02:15:16 and 02:15:31).

Symbols:

At 00:14:54 we see Elsie’s photo in extreme close-up. Bennie closes the photo folder and puts it in his inner pocket right above his heart (symbol of his love 00:15:09).

Elsie and Ben make love through a white dove (01:47:38 – 01:48:22). Elsie kisses the pigeon’s beak in a powerful backlight and Ben kisses the back of the pigeon’s head. And he immediately wants to give Elsie a kiss, but she stops him. ‘The token of love.’ Elsie comes home and has the dove with her as a symbol of love. She kisses the beak of the bird, Ben Cameron’s substitute.

Backward tracking shot:

Ben Cameron rushes towards the enemy which we see in a backward tracking shot at 00:57:33.

At 03:01:33 we follow the riders in a backward tracking shot.

We see in a backward tracking shot (03:03:47) how the riders rush towards the black militia.

In a backward tracking shot (03:04:12) we see the black mob fleeing.

Deep Space:

The entire hospital scene shows play in the foreground, but also a detailed acting in deep space (01:05:22 - 01:13:06).

Open-air studio:

The blowing papers on the table (01:30:20) and the blowing flaps of Lydia’s dress (01:30:21 – 01:30:32) show that this scene was shot in a daylight/open-air studio.

Elsie is desperate with grief. The wind blowing through her blouse and bed linen clearly shows that this scene was recorded in an outdoor studio (02:12:39).

Vignette:

Phil and Margaret walk across idyllic rolling grassland - ‘Like the Valley of Love’ - in a tight circular vignette that expresses intimacy that we have nothing to do with (00:13:17).

‘At dawn it is time for the troops to leave.’ A horn signal is sounded in a narrow circular vignette (00:30:33).

We see Austin Stoneman and Elsie, who have received the sad letter about Tod’s death, standing in a round, out-of-focus black vignette (00:45:22).

In a narrow black vignette we see a mother with her children sitting amid the debris of a house on the hill (00:47:02), while an entire army marches below them.

The Confederate soldiers reach the Union soldiers’ line in a round black blurred vignette (00:58:09) and stab the enemy with their bayonets.

Elsie sits by Ben’s bed and sings in close-up and within a small round black vignette (01:05:44, 01:05:56 and 01:06:07) to Ben who we also see in a round black vignette (01:05:50): for a moment their world is limited to the two of them.

In a frighteningly narrow black vignette we see the cart driving across the road away from us (02:42:29).

In a very narrow oval vignette (03:00:57) we see the KKK storming across the fields.

In a cramped little circular eccentric vignette (03:06:12) we see that the black militia has come very close to the hut. Inside, Margaret, Mother and Dr. Cameron despair.

Acoustic coupling:

A horn signal is sounded, the dancing revelers hear it and stop dancing (acoustic coupling 00:30:39).

Meanwhile, the carriage carrying Austin Stoneman arrives at his house. Lynch hears this and looks worriedly in the direction of the street (acoustic link 02:52:32).

Flowers as a sign of love:

Ben picks a flower and gives it to Phil. He appears to give the flower to Margaret (00:14:19) but takes it back. Still no love.

Margaret sits in the garden with a sad look. Rose petals pass through her hands and fall to the ground: Margaret thinks there is no lover for her (01:48:55). But on the other side of the fence is Phil Stoneman watching Margaret. He goes to her, speaks to her and grabs her shoulder. Margaret reacts defensively and haughtily and she squeezes a rose in her hand (01:50:00). This love is impossible.

Backlight:

Young Phil Stoneman swears that his dreams will only be about Margaret until they meet again.’ Phil and Margaret stand in the Cameron home as a powerful backlight illuminates them (00:22:03). Elsie and Ben make love through a white dove (01:47:38 – 01:48:22). Elsie kisses the pigeon’s beak in a powerful backlight and Ben kisses the back of the pigeon’s head. And he immediately wants to give Elsie a kiss, but she stops him.

Double exposure:

Atlanta is on fire (red virage) and the population flees in panic. At 00:48:59, 00:50:19 and 00:50:33 we see a double-exposed shot with the fleeing inhabitants in the middle and bottom of the screen and (second exposure) the burning city in the upper third.

Violence against women:

The population flees through the streets when black troops arrive. Margaret and Flora flee home as quickly as possible (00:38:05) and hide in the side room while irregular black soldiers force open the front door and enter. The soldiers demolish and plunder the interior and panic reigns in the side room. Margaret, Flora and mother flee to the back room and close the sliding doors. There they disappear through a hatch in the cellar (00:39:38) where Flora embraces the frightened Margaret.

Flora only goes to the source. Gus goes after Flora and keeps an eye on her (02:14:13). Gus suddenly appears at Flora’s and says: ‘I want to get married.’ Flora feels threatened. Gus grabs her arm, but she slaps him and flees screaming in panic. Gus gives chase. Flora runs through the woods but cannot escape Gus. She hides in the bushes and climbs onto a rock. Gus continues to chase her and now also climbs up the rocks. Flora has no way out anymore. Flora shouts at Gus: ‘Stay away or I’ll jump!’ Flora panics, jumps, falls on rocks and rolls some more. Ben Cameron finds Flora downstairs limp and seriously injured. She whispers what happened and then dies in his arms.

Elsie goes to the half-blood Lynch to ask for help.’ She first has to pass a few pushy young black soldiers. Lynch proposes to Elsie to marry him.’ Lynch becomes aggressive and Elsie tries to avoid him. ‘See! My people fill the streets. With them I will build a Black Empire and you will sit as Queen by my side.’ But Elsie doesn’t feel like it despite the fact that Lynch gets down on his knees and kisses the skirts of her dress. She flees to the door, but Silas Lynch becomes increasingly fierce and, menacing as a predator, chases Elsie across the room (02:50:38). Lynch, drunk on wine and power, orders his henchmen to quickly arrange a forced marriage, much to Elsie’s horror. Elsie tries to flee again and open the door, but in vain. Lynch runs between the pieces of furniture after Elsie like his prey. Elsie is distraught as Lynch grabs her, causing her to swoon. While Lynch holds the unconscious Elsie in his arms, Stoneman walks in and knocks on the sliding door. Lynch drags the unconscious Elsie to the side room where he puts her down in a chair. When Elsie regains her senses, she immediately starts looking for an escape route again, stands in front of the window screaming and smashes the window. Stoneman wants to go to his daughter, but is roughly stopped by Lynch and Elsie is pulled away from the window by a black housekeeper and forced into the chair, where she swoons again. Meanwhile, Elsie is still gagged in the chair at Lynch and Stoneman’s house. Elsie’s black guards flee and Elsie manages to get the gag out of her mouth, cheers and turns around, straight into the arms of Silas Lynch, who grabs her, lifts her up and drags her away. He passes Stoneman, who tries to free his daughter. The KKK fighters rush into Stoneman’s home and grab Lynch, causing Elsie to fall into her father’s arms.

Birth of a Nation

was shot entirely by Billy Bitzer with one hand-cranked Pathé camera. The smoother, electrically powered Bell & Howell camera had just come onto the market, but the price prevented its use ². With the exception of the battlefield scenes, filming took place primarily on the grounds behind the Reliance-Majestic studio’s on the corner of Sunset and Hollywood Blvd

For the ‘Birth of a Nation’ roadshow, the producer provided the projectors, the projectionist, a complete orchestra, the sound effects and the sheet music. In theaters that had a projector, the machine was removed and replaced with two projectors brought along, allowing the full length film to be shown without interruption ³.

Miriam Cooper

was trained as a painter and posed as a painter’s model. She joined the American Biograph Company and was hired as an extra in “A Blot on a Scutcheon” (D.W.Griffith, 1914), after which Griffith made a screen test with her, after which she heard nothing. After being rejected by Edison and Vitagraph, she was hired by the Kalem Company, which was shooting a series of Civil War films in Florida. Miriam did the necessary stunts herself, ran across the roof of a train and swam through a river on a horse. But when she asked for a raise she was fired. After returning to New York, it turned out that Griffith had been looking for her. He gave her a contract for $35 a week at the California-based Reliance Majestic studio, where he had started working in 1913 after leaving Biograph. Cooper starred in a number of films, her star rose and she got a dressing room together with Mae Marsh. Griffith was preparing his ‘Civil War’ film. Cooper got the role of Margaret Cameron in ‘The Birth of a Nation’ and in ‘Intolerance’ the role of the ‘Friendless One’, who commits a murder for which the Boy is almost hanged, but repents. She met Raoul Walsh, assistant director to Griffith (who played Lincoln’s assassin), who soon left for Fox studios in New York, married Raoul Walsh in 1916 and never saw Griffith again. Unlike Mae Marsh and Lilian Gish, she never had a relationship with Griffith, although he did make advances.

With Walsh she made more and less successful films, most of which have been lost. She actually didn’t want to act anymore, but did this to stay close to Walsh, who would otherwise cheat on her . She was friends with , , and , , , and . She loved and hated , who made advances on Raoul Walsh. Theda Bara (reverse of Arab) was Theodosia Goodman, daughter of a Jewish tailor from Cincinnati, who was the first to play Cleopatra in a film; the film has been lost, but beautiful photos remain of Bara wearing a bra consisting of only two artfully twisted copper tubes. Raoul Walsh started cheating more and more, including with Ethel Barrymore, sister of Lionel and John. Ultimately, Raoul and Miriam divorced in 1926. Miriam Cooper was infertile and adopted two sons, who lived with her in their teenage years after the divorce, but later went to Raoul Walsh, after which she never saw them again.

In 1930 Griffith filmed an interview with him in which he justified the making of the film:

__The Birth of a Nation, audio version __(D.W Griffith, 1930)

Introduction to the sound version (Western Electric system) by _‘_The Birth of a Nation’ __(D.W Griffith, 1930) ⁴

‘The introduction to our film is the recording of a confidential conversation betweenen Mr. D.W. Griffith and his friend Mr. Walter Huston, which took place an evening in the spring of 1930. For the first time, Mr. Griffith speaks about the colorful childhood experiences that led him to create ‘The Birth of a Nation’.’ Griffith says he is from the Southern States and that his father was a colonel in the Confederate army. Huston has as a gift for Griffith, an old army saber carried by a Confederate officer. Griffith is happy with it, because his father also wore such a saber. Huston wants to know if ‘The Birth of a Nation’ is based on the stories of Griffith’s father. ‘Maybe so.’ As a child, sitting under the table, he listened to the stories his father and his friends told about the battles they had fought day after day, night after night, with nothing to eat but parched corn. And his mother stayed up at night sewing costumes for the ‘Klan’. ‘Then the Klan was needed, it had a purpose.’ Huston says this movie is the best ever made and Griffith thanks him. ‘The film is about a huge battle, about people fighting against great opposition, making great sacrifices, suffering, death, a great story.’ ‘The conditions in the south after the war, when the ‘carpetbaggers’ were powerful is well described by President Woodrow Wilson.’ Huston reads: ‘Adventurers, enemies of both races, swarmed from the North to cozen, beguile and use the negroes… In the villages the negroes were office holders, men who knew nothing of the exercise of authority, except its insolences. The political decisions of the leaders in Congress led to a real overthrow of civilization in the South…. in their determination to bring the white South under the heel of the black South.’ ‘The white men were driven purely by an instinct for self-preservation… until finally a great Klu Klux Klan emerged, a veritable empire of the South, to protect the Southern country.’

Griffith says: ‘It is written correctly.’

Footnotes

1. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebtiJH3EOHo ↩

2. Billy Bitzer, His Story, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1973, pg 4 ↩

3. Billy Bitzer, His Story, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1973, pg 5 ↩

4. www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8UUl1mhsrw&t=1s ↩