Intolerance

This film (drama)Also known asIntolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages，is aAmericaProducerwomen sex，At1916Released in year 。The dialogue language isEnglish，Current Douban rating8.7(For reference only)。

This film is also translated as "Intolerance," and is D. W. Griffith's most creatively ambitious work. Influenced by the astonishing success of "The Birth of a Nation," Griffith endeavored to create a larger-scale film with deeper content. He spent a year and a half, invested two million dollars in production, and created a feature with a runtime of 220 minutes (the original version was 480 minutes). Unfortunately, when the film premiered in New York in September 1916, it did not receive the expected acclaim. The reasons for the film's box office failure are numerous, but primarily, Griffith's use of a highly complex narrative structure exceeded the audience's ability to comprehend at the time. Additionally, the severe themes of promoting tolerance and opposing violence were in conflict with the patriotic fervor surrounding the war in America, leading to a lack of widespread acceptance. However, one cannot deny that this is an immortal masterpiece in cinematic art. "Intolerance" consists of four stories set in different eras: the fall of Babylon, the passion of Jesus Christ, the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in France, and the labor conflicts in early 20th-century America. Griffith describes his vision: "The four grand cyclical stories are like four rivers that initially flow separately and calmly, but eventually converge into a powerful, raging current." The film begins with a shot of a mother pushing a cradle, intercut with lines from Whitman’s poetry: "As it was yesterday, the changing cycles of human emotions are endless. The cradle rocks, bringing the same passions, the same joys and sorrows to humanity." After this subtitle, the first modern story, which serves as the film's tone, unfolds. As the story progresses, the director frequently intercuts with the other three stories, developing parallel narratives. In the end, the visuals return to the mother and the cradle, presenting the theme of "human evolution from intolerance to tolerance." The core modern story, "Mother and Law," depicts four unemployed workers coming from a small town to the city in search of jobs, with some going astray and others yearning for a normal family life. The upright male protagonist is falsely accused of murder and sentenced to death after his arrest. On the day of the execution, the real murderer has a change of heart and saves the protagonist at the most dangerous moment. From this story, one can discern the general social conditions in early 20th-century America: instability in rural areas, dark and complex urban environments, difficult labor conditions, and numerous legal issues. In this film, Griffith further showcased his outstanding talent in "parallel editing." He used comparative editing of similar situations from the four stories, unifying the disparate plots with strength, and generated emotional climaxes through the repeated use of similar shots. For instance, one sequence was edited as follows: 1. Jesus Christ is being led by soldiers; 2. A village girl in Babylon rushes to inform her lover of the king's peril; 3. A modern young woman desperately runs to save her beloved; 4. During the Paris Massacre, a Protestant attempts to rescue his fiancée amid the crowd's riot. Griffith employed techniques such as moving shots and camera angles to connect the four parallel narratives, maintaining a tight and smooth rhythm. He even utilized brief flashback techniques in some segments of the story to advance the plot, demonstrating that his "cinema grammar" greatly surpassed that of his contemporaries. Moreover, Griffith pioneered the use of "close-ups" and "long shots" to enhance the audience's psychological experience (e.g., a close-up of a woman's tightly clenched hand, showing her anxiety upon hearing of her husband's death sentence; a long shot of a capitalist sitting alone in his office, suggesting his vast controlling power). He also employed tinting techniques in the film to strengthen various special effects (e.g., using blue-tinted film for night scenes, yellow for lighted rooms, and red for the burning of Babylon). Although Griffith did not invent the method of film tinting, no one had used it as boldly and comprehensively in a single film as he did. It is astonishing that such a complex, large-scale production was made without a complete script, relying solely on Griffith's improvisation. Additionally, there were no design plans for the sets, yet Griffith managed to have an awe-inspiring Babylon set constructed. During the filming of the scene where Babylon attacks Jerusalem, he simultaneously employed 15,000 extras and 250 chariots in a single day. His ambitious approach left even contemporary Italian historical epics in the dust, showcasing his confidence in his creative abilities. Perhaps, as Griffith's own adage states, "Art is often revolutionary, explosive, and grandiose." The performances behind the scenes of "Intolerance" reveal that Griffith was indeed an artist who practiced what he preached.