INTOLERANCE
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Over the same weekend that I went to the theater to watch TRANSFORMERS I also spend some time catching up on some of Netflix rentals. I had rented quite the array of films as of late and was very surprised by one particular selection. After getting through season 3 of ENTOURAGE, PAN'S LABYRINTH, THE FOUNTAIN and CHILDREN OF MEN, I watched a movie from 1916 called INTOLERANCE from director D.W. Griffith.
I have to give proper thanks to the guys over at the Hollywood Saloon podcast for pointing me in that direction. John and Andy have quite to hold on movie knowledge and history and have opened my eyes to some films that I have heard of but never watched and analyzed. INTOLERANCE was one of those movies. The longer I make movies the more I feel like I can't make history until I have witnessed it and understand what's come before me.
Now for those of you who grew up on STAR WARS, summer blockbusters and the magic that is green screen, I'll let you know upfront that watching a silent movie like INTOLERANCE is not an easy thing to do and I watched the shortest of 3 different versions out there in the public domain clocking in at 178 minutes. After finally finishing it I wasn't sure I understood it all either, but this is why I watch these types of movies to begin with, this is my film school.
One particular moment in the film made me sit up and take notice immediately. During the "Babylonian" scenes I recognized the massive set they used in the movie. The set piece, one of the largest set pieces created up to that time in history, has been recreated in Los Angeles in the open area shopping center next to the Kodak Theater. Designed by the architect as a tribute to INTOLERANCE and designed to scale so you could get a sense of the size of the original used in the movie.
To gain more clarity I went to the trusty internet and started my research. The movie cost 2 million dollars to make, the most expensive of the time, and used elaborate set pieces such as the Babylonian scenes and had a cast of over 6,000 extras. INTOLERANCE was also said to be a film that was a response to D.W. Griffith's previous film and one of the most controversial in history, A BIRTH OF A NATION.
D.W. Griffith has been credited with creating the language of film and many have said he gets too much credit. Either way, INTOLERANCE was quite the eye opening experience. Some of the shots in the film actually shocked me considering it was made in 1916 and gave me a new appreciation of the art of filmmaking. If you are interested in the history of film I suggest renting movies like this and then do some research about them. You'll gain some fascinating insights, like when Griffith screened the movie there were certain parts of film reels that needed to be played are varying speeds for dramatic effect and that and entire orchestra was needed to accompany each viewing which was a contributing factor to the movie ending up a box office flop.
There's a lot to be learned from a movie like INTOLERANCE especially the fact that even in the early 1900's that box office was as important then as it was to TRANSFORMERS last weekend.
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