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| DW Griffith |
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| Born: 1875 |
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The greatest and most influential of cinema's early pioneers,
Griffith more than any director was responsible for devising and
establishing the techniques of narrative film. His epic
masterpieces, The Birth Of A Nation and Intolerance, obtained
performances of remarkably subtlety, displayed a superb precision of
composition, and revealed the potential of editing. Griffith's
achievement has often been challenged: his politics condemned, his
Victorian ethic ridiculed, his originality called into question.
Nevertheless, if his films are less absolutely innovative than was
once believed, it remains true that what he didn't invent, he
perfected, and his work remains the foundation stone of cinematic art.
Alex Jacoby
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