The Birth of A Nation again, The Metropolis Times, The Man Who Walked Around The World

Posted on January 15, 2011
Filed Under contemporary, film news, films, silent films

The most controversial film in history is now online at Hulu.

February 8 marks the 96th anniversary of the release of The Birth of A Nation. Griffith’s foul, brilliant masterpiece continues to stir controversy and debate. Last month a proposed showing of the film at the American Civil War Center in Richmond, Virginia generated a censorious resolution from the city council. (The proposed showing was canceled for a variety of other reasons.) Also last month, the NAACP chapter in Charleston, South Carolina played clips from The Birth of A Nation at a mass meeting organized to protest that state’s “Secession Gala.” Nearly a century later, Griffith’s film is more relevant than ever, and now you can watch it for yourself here.

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I’ve added The Metropolis Times to the blog roll. Adam Call Roberts writes about classic movies, film dystopias, the politics of film and whatever else catches his fancy; the current post dissects the relationship between Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man and the real-life case that inspired it. Recommended.

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This is “The Man Who Walked Around the World,” a five-and-a-half minute ad for Johnnie Walker scotch whisky directed by Jamie Rafn, shot by George Richmond and starring Robert Carlyle.  It’s also one of the greatest short films I’ve ever seen.

Thanks to @chrislazzarino, who tipped me to the film via Crikey.

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