Analysis of D.w. Griffith`s Silent Film "intolerance" (1916)

     Having seen the movie "Intolerance" by D.W. Griffith, one will definitely notice the immense effort which the creators put into the film while making it.

     The film consists of four different stories which take place in different epochs. The stories are different, but the main idea represented in all of them is the same: they all depict the tragic consequences of intolerance of humans. As far as I remember, it was Kristin Thompson who stated that these stories could have been presented separately, without intermingling with each other, and this would not spoil their effect on the audience. However, Griffith’s effort in connecting all the stories by the use of cross-cutting technique is incredible. The small passage between the epochs, represented by a woman endlessly rocking a cradle, can be understood as a symbol of everlasting struggle between good and evil in humanity.

1.      In the epoch of Ancient Jerusalem, the main idea is expressed through the betrayal of Jesus Christ, the greatest enemy of intolerance, and his execution.

2.      In the story about the struggle between Huguenot party and the King Charles IX the presence of intolerance is shown through the words of the king’s mother (What a wonderful man, the Admiral Coligny, if he only thought as we do) and Admiral Coligny, the leader of Huguenot party (What a wonderful king, if he only thought as we do).  The result of the opposition between Huguenots and the Queen is the bloody St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, which mangles the life of an innocent couple - Brown Eyes and Prosper Latour, who are planning to get married.

3.      In the story of Babylon, the consequence of intolerance is the war between the king Cyrus and the warrior Beshazzar, which results in Belshazzar’s defeat. The tragic outcome is supported by the jealousy of the intolerant High Priest of Bel who sees in the enthronement of rival gods, the loss of his own great powers in Babylon. The High Priest betrays Belshazzar and joins Cyrus in fight for Babylon.

4.      The modern story, taking place in the 20th century, also depicts the age intolerant of youth and laughter. A young loving couple (the Boy and the little Dear One) suffers such strokes of bad luck as the Boy’s wrong accusation and the loss of the woman’s only child.

     Although the modern story of "Intolerance" is not separated from the others and elaborates the same main idea, its ending bears a significant difference from the other stories: the ending is not as tragic as the endings of parallel stories. This fact can lead us to supposition that the author wanted the modern world to have a chance to change in a better way, and prevent the same historical mistakes from being repeated over and over. Since the evil on the level of everyday life is not noticeable as much, as on the level of great historical upheavals, then the modern story’s idea is supported by the three great historical events.

     Taking into consideration the minor mood of all the stories within the movie, I can define the determinant of the movie as a tragedy aimed at depicting the way in which evil exists in human society throughout the ages.

     It is obvious that from the point of view of the early 20^th century audience the use of four epochs was aimed at reaching the highest level of defamiliarization. All the social and individual problems within human society were represented in different time-dimensions that involve different realias. The presence of four epochs in the film not only hints at the metaphorical way of depicting the same issues that are relevant for the viewer in the present, but also, according to Thompson, helps the creators avoid overacting. For better understanding of the possible danger of overacting in "Intolerance", we can imagine this film’s almost 3 hours long narration represented with only one epoch. In this case, even if the narrative created some defamiliarization in the minds of the viewers, the latter would gradually disappear by the end of the film. This is the reason why, according to Thompson, such unusual films as Intolerance are the most suitable for analysis. Here we can also recall Eisenstein’s way of montage in The Strike, where the killing of the crowd is, for greater effect on audience, is compared with another action – the slaughtering of a cow.

     Speaking about the qualities of narration, I can point out that the range of knowledgeability in the structure of the film is extremely wide, due to the same reason: subtle use of different epochs to convey the same idea to the audience. Since the way to deliver the information is quite complex, some textual explanations used in editing are always helpful, as well as in any other silent film of that time. The communicativeness of each narrative would be quite evident if they were shown as separate series, but since all the stories are shown through cross-cuts, they create quite a complex grotesquery representation which is difficult to comprehend shortly after the first watching of the film.

     Since the director has put a lot of energy into the actual shooting and production, there is not much complexity in representing the plot from the point of view of proairetic and hermeneutic lines. It seems to me that the whole movie’s story is led by the proairetic actions, which clarify the main idea shot by shot.

     The use of such devices as bound and free motifs is evident, since it seems to be conventional for movie-making. The only thing that requires extra attention is the usage of free motifs, which stretch the narrative in time and intensify the effect of defamiliarization. There is a number episodes where free motifs were used, but for a clear example we can recall the story of the Mountain Girl and Rhapsode. I am convinced that both of the characters can be seen as least important in the story of Babylon. The actions of these two characters prolong the story, but do not effect the conclusion (The Mountain Girl’s love to Belshazzar is not a significant information, and her attempt to warn Belshazzar about the approaching army of Cyrus appears to be in vain, when the enemy is already in the city), so they [actions] can be understood as free motifs. Another example of such use of the characters for building a stairstep construction is the Dear One’s father, whose death was not the reason for further turns in the narrative. However, such a character as the Governor in the modern story is one of the actors whose actions include both free (refusing to grant pardon for the Boy) and bound motifs (signing the document which saves the Boy in the last moment before execution). Such a use of these characters is also a proof for Thompson’s understanding of characters as devices employed in structuring the film.

     Speaking about "Intolerance" as a tragedy represented in a very epic and elevated way, it is also worth mentioning such devices as use of long shots or high angle shots which include vast spaces within the walls of ancient cities. These shots often include huge crowds, and they are most widely used in the story of Babylon. The use of close-ups to emphasize the feelings of humans is the most noticeable in the modern story, where we can observe the sufferings of the little Dear One.

     Since "Intolerance" is a movie of the silent era, there is not much to be described in terms of sound effects. The whole narrative is supported by a minor-scale soundtrack, which bears the same epic mood as the movie itself does.