Andrew Sarris, one of the most eminent film critics of all time, described The Birth of a Nation nation (1915) by DW Griffith as "…cannot be ignored, and yet [the birth] was considered outrageously racist, even at a time when racism was hardly a household word". Any contemporary audience feels two very contradictory emotions: if impressed by the revolutionary cinematic techniques used by Griffith, repugnance at racism can be felt just as strong. The film can still stimulate audiences almost a century after its release due to two aspects: its pioneering techniques, including editing, music and camera angles, and its notoriety due to blatant racism. Cross-editing, or parallel editing, is a technique that Griffith employs masterfully in birth. In the final minutes of the film, the camera constantly cuts to members of the Ku Klux Klan heroically and courageously charging toward the black militia, depicted as disorganized and frightened. The technique strengthens the representation of both groups as shown in the second half of the film. While the Klansmen are courageous in the face of their enemies, the black militia fear the courage and strength of the Klan. Going through the battle sequence, the two groups are very clearly juxtaposed, accentuating the gap between the KKK and blacks. militia. Because the heroic courage of the KKK is so quickly and constantly juxtaposed with the cowardly black militia, the audience is made to feel exhilarated as the Klansmen break through the defense and save the innocent citizens of African Americans. Music is another technique used. to support the romanticized, albeit erroneous, portrayal of the KKK. At a time when ambient music was still largely...... middle of paper ......due to its racism. The debate can ultimately be summed up in a single question: how to approach this film? Over the past century, people have tried to watch this film in different ways. Some completely overlooked the technical achievements and denigrated the film based on its content, while others chose to forgo their ideologies and watch the film from a purely technical aspect. What both overlooked is the fact that Birth of a Nation is inherently a dichotomy; technical revolutions cannot be fully appreciated without recognizing the racist intent behind them, and vice versa. In fact, it is this polarity that gives power to the Birth of a Nation; the absurdity of feeling two conflicting emotions is what makes this film still relevant to us, 99 years after its release. As Ebert said: “If we want to see this movie, we have to see and deal with everything.”.