Intolerance (1916)

USA 163m, silent (B&W)
Director: D.W. Griffith; Cast: Mae Marsh, Robert Harron, Constance Talmadge, Lillian Gish, Douglas Fairbanks

Intolerance was an enormously ambitious experiment in early cinema that employed a non-linear narrative structure to simultaneously depict four love stories through the ages. While the central theme of “intolerance” is at times somewhat forced by inter-titles and not told by the film itself, the cinematography, set design and special effects in the Babylonian story line are nothing short of incredible. The modern-day narrative is also an impressive piece of film-making which could easily stand on its own. Unfortunately the film feels unbalanced, as the other two-story lines are underdeveloped. Despite its flaws, Intolerance provided a glimpse into the future of film making (Klaus Ming December 2008).