Imaginary of a nation in North American cinema

Abstract

Abstract

We intend, based on the hypothesis that US cinema of origin built a strong imaginary of the nation, to analyze, as part of the research, Griffith's main work, considered a classic of cinema, which deals with the origin of the nation in the disputes between the north and the south. The Birth of a Nation (1915) promoted a true revolution in American cinema, adopting alternative shots and parallel montages from a formal point of view. This film, focusing on two families throughout the civil war with a strong ideological perspective favorable to the south of the country, will allow us to grasp traces of the formation of the North American imagination, especially the great dispute between the two regions that shaped the United States as a modern country. ; the author was widely criticized for his sympathy for the South and the origin of the Ku Klux Klan. The extreme violence affecting the rich white population takes on epic tones in this film. Later, Griffith will make another emblematic film, Intolerance, when he will try to respond to the criticism that his most famous film received, referenced here as a counterpoint to the main work, but not placed as an object of communication.