Intolerance [Blu-ray]

In 2017, D.W. Griffith is back in national news concerning his controversial 1915 epic Birth of a Nation, now considered both a landmark in world cinema and—as some historians have described it in a PBS documentary in early 2017—"racist pornography." There's a new film with the same title, deliberately chiding the original film by Griffith. Overall, Griffith's public reputation a century after Birth of a Nation is pretty dismal and as a life-long journalist who has written about film for many years, I agree with that analysis. Birth of a Nation had a terrible impact.That's relevant, because this epic—Intolerance—arrived in 1916 and these two films, taken together, represent the infamous zenith of Griffith's career. When I first saw Intolerance half a century ago at the University of Michigan in film studies, we were told that this represented Griffith's apology for Birth of a Nation. In fact, today, we learn that Griffith never repudiated his horrific vision of race relations in the earlier film. Rather than an apology, this multi-million-dollar epic was Griffith's heart-felt claim that he had been wronged himself by "do-gooders." He felt that he had been wounded by intolerance. And, the dark side of this movie is that Griffith has put on the big screen some truly hateful assumptions about what, in that day, would have been known as Progressives. In particular, Griffith targets women's groups as evil cabals of battle axes intent on tearing families apart.Having said all of that, Intolerance still ranks high on global lists of milestones in world cinema. It's still on the master list of greatest films ever made published by Sight & Sound, for example. That's a list voted by film professionals and film critics. Or, consider the more tabloid-style overview of this film in Kenneth Anger's equally infamous classic:  Hollywood Babylon: The Legendary Underground Classic of Hollywood's Darkest and Best Kept Secrets . I tend to agree with Anger's assessment. The outrageous excesses of Intolerance (which contributed to the decline in Griffith's fortunes in subsequent years) was a major milestone in what Anger calls Hollywood's "Purple" age—an era of over-the-top excess.I think that's why Sight & Sound and other groups of film historians still list this silent classic as a "great" moment in world cinema.And, ultimately, that's why you should invest in this superb-quality Cohen Blu-ray of the film if you plan to tackle its nearly three hours today. There are countless other versions of Intolerance available online from streaming video to cheap DVD knock offs. Most of them are poor quality. I will point out here that I also own the Griffith Masterworks series DVD of this film:  Intolerance (1916) . If you are looking for a DVD version of the movie, it's a fine choice as well. But, having seen both now, I urge you to get this Cohen edition.In this review, I wanted to acknowledge the controversy swirling around these two classics. The heart of that controversy is the 1915 film and, if you want to know more about that, get a copy of Dick Lehr's excellent history:  The Birth of a Nation: How a Legendary Filmmaker and a Crusading Editor Reignited America's Civil War . That was the basis of the January 2017 PBS documentary about that chapter in Griffith's career.If you want to dive into this 1916 epic, you won't find as much written about it unless you look back to Anger's book or perhaps others that mention Griffith's building of Babylon in Hollywood. It's an eye-popping peak in silent cinema. If you've never seen it and care about the history of film, this is definitely a "must see" milestone. And, for your first viewing, see it in this crystal-clear Cohen version.

When D.W. Griffith's massive epic INTOLERANCE was released in 1916, it was a commercial failure. This was due in part to its pacifist stand on war at a time when America was at the brink of entering the European conflict, and also because of its complex narrative structure which many people found difficult to follow. Griffith himself spent the rest of his life paying off the debts INTOLERANCE had incurred. None of these perceived failings matter when viewing the film, which retains all of its power to amaze and move an audience as it did the day it premiered.Originally planned as a much shorter film that Griffith called THE MOTHER AND THE LAW which dealt with a contemporary setting, the story was expanded to include three other episodes taken from history: the fall of Babylon, the crucifixion of Christ, and the Huguenot massacre. Griffith's innovative plan was to intercut the stories and jump back and forth between them, showing how the same themes of human injustice and intolerance have persisted from earliest times to our modern day. Not only was the narrative structure unconventional and ambitious, but the entire production was mounted on a scale unprecedented in American cinema at that time. Costumes were authentic in every detail, while the sets - particularly the Babylonian wall, gate, and courtyard - were the largest ever built for a movie.INTOLERANCE features excellent performances by the entire cast which includes Mae Marsh, Robert Harron, Miriam Cooper, Walter Long, Constance Talmadge, Alfred Paget, Seena Owen, Tully Marshall, Margery Wilson, Eugene Pallette and Howard Gaye. Lillian Gish plays the key role of the mother who endlessly rocks the cradle of time, linking all four stories. The film is alternately beautiful, compelling, and disturbing in its vivid imagery and never ceases to fascinate in the way it combines intimate drama with opulent spectacle. As broad as it is in its scope, INTOLERANCE pulsates with passionate emotion. In many ways it is unsurpassed in its attempt to cinematically depict humanity's struggle throughout history. No other film tried to tackle again what Griffith gives us in INTOLERANCE, and that alone is something to admire.Cohen Media Group's newly restored Blu-ray of this silent masterpiece is a revelation. Scanned at 2K/1080p, the images leap off the screen with remarkable clarity for a movie that's nearly a century old. Over those decades INTOLERANCE has had a frustrating existence with numerous cuts, snippets, alternate takes, and varying projection speeds so that it's virtually impossible to pin down a "definitive" version. This edition has by far the best overall combination of extant footage and image quality consistency, and includes the original tints as per its initial roadshow engagement. The magnificent Carl Davis music score in 5.1 and 2.0 audio adds a new, epic dimension that makes us appreciate even more the power of this film. Extras include the shorter features THE MOTHER AND THE LAW and THE FALL OF BABYLON both with new scores by the Mont Alto Orchestra, a retrospective by historian Kevin Brownlow, the restoration trailer, and a booklet with essays by Richard Porton and William M. Drew.This extraordinary, influential classic is mandatory viewing for every cinema lover, and I give this outstanding Blu-ray my highest recommendation.

Review of the Eureka Blu Ray 2 disc set. I assume this is Region B locked but have no easy way of proving it. The picture quality is very good, plenty of detail here and only light damage is visible in a couple of places, seems like it has a sympathetic restoration. The two main story lines in ‘Intolerance’ are presented again on Disc 2 as films in their own right and with some additional scenes and some changed scenes. It’s interesting to compare these B&W scenes with the equivalent tinted ones on the main feature, to me they look a little clearer but that is no criticism of the tinting on the main feature.The main feature soundtrack is a Carl Davis orchestral one and it’s predictably grand and unsurprisingly excellent.Intolerance really is an epic with it’s 4 interwoven story lines taking up almost 3 hours. The two main story lines are set in ancient Babylon and the contemporary USA, the supplemental ones in 16th century France and Jerusalem at the time of Jesus.The Babylonian sets are huge and breath taking, no CGI here, these were actually constructed and the thousands of extras adorning the sets provide further scale. Much work went in to getting the Babylonian details right and it shows, this is a labour of love and it shows. Almost every scene is packed with detail and people, I was often reaching for the pause button just to take it all in. The battle scenes are epic are quite gory in places, a spear is slowly inserted into a torso, looks most convincing, less convincing but quite startling are a couple of decapitations. On top of this we have a few scenes of various young ladies in completely see through tops and for no good narrative reason. Just shows Hollywood has been selling gratuitous sex and violence for its entire existence!Constance Talmadge is a delight as the stroppy tomboy turned warrior woman and she lights up every scene she is in.Mae Marsh (‘the dear one’) is also fantastic in the contemporary story, she is a decent kid who has rotten luck at every turn some of which is supplied by self-appointed reformers. These holier than thou types are very much in Griffith’s sites (later confirmed by Kevin Brownlow’s excellent interview) and boy does he let them have it. One title card quotes ‘When women cease to attract men they often turn to Reform as a second choice’ Yikes! These days we have all manner of overpaid health ‘gurus’, nannies and food scientists lecturing us about the evils of alcohol, red meat and the like, delivering their dire and often contradictory warnings. Would that a modern director set his sights on these crushing bores.Mae Marsh has great support from Miriam Cooper as the hugely conflicted ‘friendless one’ and Robert Harron convinces as ‘the boy’. The tension in this story line builds and builds to a great climax. Excellent stuff.Religious intolerance is of course the main theme throughout the film. Depressingly little has changed in the 103 years since and I suspect never will whilst so much of the human race is still defined by such beliefs.This is a 5* film all the way, but it’s not perfect. The French story line doesn’t get enough time for us to build a rapport with the characters and thus the fate of them loses dramatic impact compared to what is going on in the main stories. Jerusalem gets even less time and for me the only effective scene was the ‘Let he is without sin cast the first stone one’. The crucifixion is marred by some dodgy special effects.The two films on Disc 2 provide some extra narrative for both stories. For ‘the dear one’ those extra scenes should have been left in the main feature they answered the burning questions I had when watching it. For the Babylon story – the extra scenes change the pace and feeling of the narrative and there is a radically different ending. For me the Babylon story in the main feature is superior.An absolute essential for silent films fans, film students and aficionados alike. All this entertainment for a very reasonable price. Go get it!

Considering this silent was made 100 years ago, it still remains a masterpiece.The splicing of several different plot-lines from different eras is a tour-de-force that modern movie directors would find hard to emulate.Beautifully restored. A pity that the extra "Fall of Babylon" could not receive the same quality of restoration.

米国COHEN社からの同じリージョンA,字幕無しにて視聴可能な「イントレランス」BDのレビューです。2013年に最新技術を施し、丁重な2Kリストアを行った最高仕様と言えます。2枚組の特典はオムニバス本編の2つの物語をそれぞれ独立した1編として造られた貴重な別バージョンが収録されており、そちらも綺麗です。本編は染色版、特典側は白黒版になっています。11月末にIVCから日本版が発売予定ですが、尺数はほぼ同じの1枚組。蓋を開けてみなければ分かりません。

I like the colossal sets and dynamic presentation

To think I’ve lived 73 years and never saw this magnificent film .I thought it was outstanding-If you enjoy silent movies this is for you . Music by the late Great Carl Davis