Wednesday, December 31, 2008
DJ Spooky's Rebirth of a Nation
Paul D. Miller is DJ Spooky. He has two books published by MIT Press. This is not an accomplishment that you would likely associate with a trip hop electronica artist. i recently viewed Rebirth of a Nation, He describes this presentation as "a DJ mix applied to cinema."
I was cautious when I started to view this DVD, which was a version of a project that Miller/Spooky has presented in concert throughout the world. I had the impression that an African American man would be likely to only try to see and underscore the racism that is at the heart and core of this landmark film. Birth of the Nation, like Leni Reifenstahl's Triumph of the Will is a major cinematic achievement, but one that will be forever connected with extreme and exceptional racial and political baggage.
Miller approaches his topic as both and artist and a scholar. This is particularly apparent in his voice over commentary. his score spans quite a variety of sounds and resources uses electronic beats, blues harmonica and I believe is most effective when he uses the Kronos Quartet against a very solid and steady percussion line.
The first half of the film is the tale of a northern and a southern family during the Civil War. We see moments of family life and some battle sequences which are still impressive. Abraham Lincoln is set up as a protector of the South after the war ends. It concludes with a very detailed reenactment of Abraham Lincoln's assassination. In the comments discusses how Griffith sets up his drama as reality. And in the second half where the postwar south is seen as occupied and controlled by blacks in a kind of ignoble form of self-centered anarchy that can only be resolved by the rise of the Klu Klux Klan. What Miller calls the "subtle manipulation of realism" is something he believes is still with us in our era of Katrina and Iraq.
Miller aka DJ Spooky aka the Subliminal Kid is aspirational in his remix. This is not a project whose object is deep anger and condemnation of Griffith. Instead, he has created a forum to understand media and its impact on us. He believes that this understanding can lead to another world and of key importance is understanding and breaking the cycle of history. Anyone who watches his remix, particularly in listening to the written commentary for the Encore cable network presentation and his extemporaneous remarks on the DVD, will come away feeling less distance in the 90 some years since Birth of the Nation was rolled out as a kind of template for the feature film, the historical drama, and film entertainment as political propaganda.
posted by well-executed buffet at 1:24 AM
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