The Birth of a Nation

Based on the novel and play "The Clansman" by Thomas Dixon, Jr., director D.W. Griffith's sweeping, controversial drama is a silent cinema landmark that helped define the medium. The film chronicles the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, set against the backdrop of the American Civil War and the tumultuous relationship between the Northern Stoneman family and the Southern Camerons. Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Wallace Reid, Henry B. Walthall, Miriam Cooper star. Included here are the 1993 "Griffith Masterworks" restored version and a newly mastered 2011 version. 187 min. Standard; Soundtrack: music score; 1930 prologue; "making of" documentary; featurettes; bonus shorts "In the Border States" (1910), "The Fugitive" (1919), "The House with Closed Shutters" (1910), "His Trust" (1910), "His Trust Fulfilled" (1910), "Swords and Hearts" (1911), "The Battle" (1911); souvenir book excerpts. Silent with music score. Three-disc set.