The Wasteland Reviewer

The Wasteland Collection: Intolerance (1916)

What are the films that shaped the world of cinema? The article series, The Wasteland Collection, will be my curated list of films that helped shape film over the hundred plus years of this medium’s existence. Highlighting the filmmakers, actors, genres, technical advancements, and any other factor that helped the art form as a whole take steps forward in creating what we have today. 

Intolerance (1916)

What would we do without the big scale epic blockbuster cinema that we spend so much time enjoying? Many have turned on this grand scale experiential films as they have pushed a lot of smaller films out of cinemas and have reshaped the film industry in some not great ways. But people have loved the scale and epic feel of cinema since its earliest days. D.W. Griffiths was certainly one of the first filmmakers to capture the scale and possibilities of medium. Birth of a Nation is technically impressive but horrifically problematic and offensive but his next grand scale film, Intolerance, is where the real focus should be in terms of learning about the growth of film.

What makes Intolerance so impactful after over a century of existence? The scale is something never seen in film up to this point. There are shots in Intolerance that are just simply awe-inspiring. The shots of ancient Babylon with the towering mechanical gates and the impressive size of the temples are hard to believe that they come from 1916. The most impressive element of this film is that the whole sets are actual sets. The scale is humongous, and the wide shots capture thousands of extras on a city sized set. Films just didn’t do this at this point. This is one of the biggest leaps in filmmaking there has ever been. This is not far removed from when films were a steady camera on one room sized set. Griffiths created a whole new standard for what film could be. The world-building in Babylon alone is one of the most impressive feats in film up to this point.

 But what is even more impressive than this Babylon sequence? The fact that there are FOUR separate stories being told across time. People thought Cloud Atlas was a mind-blowing feat in modern cinema but an epic tale across time and space had its roots way back in 1916. Babylon. Judea. France. California. Not only are they different stories at different times but they are drastically different cultures and perspectives. Babylon is mythical in many ways and the production design of such scale sells that feeling. Judea shows the final days of Christ which has easily been turned into films on its own. The French sequence has completely different sets, costuming, and such. Then you have a modern story that would connect in a different way for the audience. Few films at this point even had comprehensive narratives let alone weaving in four separate stories that stand on their own and layer together thematically.

How could such a film even exist as of 1916? Griffith certainly had plenty of talent when it came behind the camera. This film follows the theme of detouring and putting out hate and intolerance which feels like a purposeful choice after Griffith spread so much hate with Birth of a Nation. But Intolerance is even more epic and expansive with a three-plus hour runtime. There is so much from a filmmaking and writing perspective that puts this leap and bounds above so many other films. Few films feel like a seismic shift in the world of film and Intolerance certainly feels this way. There are so many films that have been influenced by this (Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King channeling the Babylon invasion in the Battle of Minas Tirith) and it is hard to avoid its influence. If you are going to spend hours diving into a Griffith epic, this one is the much better choice to take in and draw influence from.