INTOLERANCE (1916)
Directed by D. W. Griffith
170 minutes
Griffith's immensely influential silent epic intercuts four parallel tales from history (spanning Babylon, Christ's Judea, Reformation Europe, and turn-of-the-century America) to embroider a moral tapestry on personal, social, and political repression through the ages. The visual poetry is overwhelming, especially in the massed crowd scenes, and the unbridled eroticism of the Babylon harem scenes demonstrates just what Hollywood lost when it later bowed to the Hays Code. While the (partly self-financed) production ruined Griffith financially and baffled audiences with its multiple plots and labyrinthine structure, it has been enormously influential on generations of filmmakers, including Eisenstein, who studied the film closely. CLICK HERE TO BOOK TICKETS NOW!