Silent | Intolerance (1916)

The story of a poor young woman separated by prejudice from her husband and baby is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.

A 1916 epic silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and considered one of the great masterpieces of the Silent Era.


The three-and-a-half hour epic intercuts four parallel storylines, each separated by several centuries:


1 | A contemporary melodrama of crime and redemption.

2 | A Judean story: Christ's mission and death.

3 | A French story: the events surrounding the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572.

4 | 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.


The scenes are linked by shots of a figure representing Eternal Motherhood, rocking a cradle.

Silent Filmhouse