Intolerance (film)

Intolerance is a 1916 American anthology silent film directed by D. W. Griffith. Subtitled as Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages and A Sun-Play of the Ages,^[2][3] the three-and-a-half-hour epic intercuts four parallel storylines, each separated by several centuries: first, a contemporary melodrama of crime and redemption; second, a Biblical story: Christ's mission and death; third, a French story: the events surrounding the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572; and fourth, a Babylonian story: the fall of the Babylonian Empire to Persia in 539 BC. Each story had its own distinctive color tint in the original print.^[3] The scenes are linked by shots of a figure representing Eternal Motherhood, rocking a cradle.^[3]

Griffith chose to explore the theme of intolerance partly in response to his previous film The Birth of a Nation (1915) being derided by the NAACP and others for perpetuating and supporting racial stereotypes and glorifying the Ku Klux Klan.^[4][5] Intolerance was not, however, an apology, as Griffith felt he had nothing to apologize for;^[6] in numerous interviews, Griffith made clear that the film was a rebuttal to his critics and he felt that they were, in fact, the intolerant ones.^[7] In the years following its release, Intolerance strongly influenced European film movements and is regarded as one of the most influential films of the silent era.^[6] In 1958, the film was voted number 7 in the World Expo film poll. In 1989, it was one of the first films to be selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.