Director D.W. Griffith's historical saga recounts the genesis of the U.S. Civil War, the destruction it wrought upon the populace, and the social ills spawned by Reconstruction, including the ascent of the Ku Klux Klan. The story plays out in the intertwining fates of two fictional families -- the Northern Stonemans and the Southern Camerons. Though the film's legacy is stained by its racist content, it remains a landmark in filmmaking technique.