Within Our Gates was originally filmed as a form of protest against D.W. Griffith's infamous Birth Of A Nation. Released in 1919, four years after Birth Of A Nation, the film presents a complex storyline, combatting the blatant stereotypes of Birth Of A Nation by portraying its characters as complicated, three-dimensional, intricate characters working through serious problems.
A quick synopsis: The film follows the story of a young black woman, Sylvia Landry, who is searching for a way to help her people, despite being plagued by misfortune. Pursued against her will by her step-cousin, a criminal and general bastard named Larry, she remains faithful to her fiancee, Conrad, until he is driven away by the machinations of her cousin Alma. In search of meaning, she moves south to teach at a small school for black children, but soon learns that the school is on the verge of bankruptcy, so she returns to the north to try to find funds for the failing school. While there, she meets the kindly Dr. Vivian and a rich old lady who is willing to donate money for the school. Back in the south, she is proposed to by both the owner of the school and by Larry, who has found her again. She refuses them both, as she has fallen in love with Dr. Vivian, but Larry threatens to "tell them who she really is" if she doesn't comply, so she leaves the school in the night and disappears. Later, searching for Sylvia, Dr. Vivian runs into Alma and learns her tragic backstory:
Sylvia was adopted by a poor black family called the Landrys, and was able to go to school. However, while she was back from school, her adopted father is accidentally present when their cruel landlord is murdered, and is accused of the crime. The family attempts to flee, but are caught and lynched. Sylvia was not with them when they are caught, but is soon found by the landlord's brother, who attempts to rape her. After a long fight scene, she faints, but is saved when he sees a scar on her breast and realizes that she is his daughter by a his black wife.
Dr. Vivian soon finds Sylvia and talks her out of her depression, and they are married.
One of the most interesting characters to me, yet a very minor part of the film, was (Raymond? Ramon? Rafar? I forget) Gridlestone, the brother of the murdered landlord and Sylvia's father. I don't know if there was intended to be more of a story for him or if he was merely there to move the plot along, but he is a man of contradictions. We watch as he hunts the family in the swamp, rifle in hand, and as he tries to rape Sylvia in a remarkably violent scene which takes several minutes, and is intercut with scenes of the lynching of the Landys. Then we learn (along with him) that Sylvia is actually his daughter, with a black woman who he had married, no less! And that he had paid for her schooling. This is where my confusion was. If he loved a black woman enough that he was willing to defy the social mores of the day by marrying her, why was he participating in a lynching? Why was his daughter adopted by the Landys? I would assume that his wife died, and though he was not willing to raise a half-black daughter by himself, he clearly cared enough about her to make sure she was educated. And, if he paid for her school, didn't he know the Landys? Wouldn't he realize beforehand that it was his daughter and her adopted family that they were lynching? Landy's name was all over the papers.
This character is remarkably enigmatic, but because so much is lost, I can only wish I knew his backstory. I should construct one myself.
He fell in love with a lovely black woman in his tempestuous youth and married her, defying his father's wishes and was subsequently disinherited, resulting in his wicked brother inheriting the family land. However, shortly after their first child is born, he discovers that his wife is cheating on him and kills her in a fit of rage. In the attack, he accidentally cuts his infant daughter's chest, and fraught with remorse, brings her to the local black minister. He asks that the minister find her a family and promises to pay for her education, but never wants to see her again for fear of seeing his unfaithful wife in her. For years, he dwells and seethes on the betrayal of his wife until news reaches him that his brother has been murdered by a crazed negro. And there in the doomed man's cabin, he finds a lovely young black woman and the passions of his youth are relit, but now tempered with the years of resentment, and he attacks her. But then he pulls at the front of her dress, and there on her chest is a scar...
Horrified and eaten by guilt at what he nearly did to his own daughter, he flees and hides in alcohol, now dwelling on something else while he is deep in his cups. Finally he decides that he must reconcile. He must see his child again, and tell her that he was all wrong, that everything he has thought has been a lie. So he finds her again at her cousin's house, and musters the courage to knock at the door...
Not bad, eh?
I agree with your ideas about Gridlestone's brother, he is a quite confusing character. But, I think his main initiative in being introduced within the film was to add a more meaningful conclusion to the end. It was also a great twist that I never saw coming, and a very unique way to end the film!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the back story you created for Gridlestone, it seems to fit rather well. I think the purpose of his character was simply to show the hypocrisy of many white racists.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other 2 comments pretty much. I think there is also the possibility that he may have just raped a black woman or forced her to have sex with him and when it turned out that she was pregnant, he split ways with the woman but always secretly cared about Sylvia...maybe he secretly paid for her schooling to as avoid social conflicts and what not. That just seems like an option to me, but also I agree that you created a great back story and that he is a very short-lived, confusing, yet important character to the movie!
ReplyDeleteI love your back story, it was highly entertaining! And I think that his back story was one of the major inconsistencies with the movie; whether it was assumed that no one would care or it was edited out.
ReplyDeleteAs for jdwc's comment, in the movie it was stated that Sylvia was a legitimate child, which would lead the audience (at least myself) to believe that he was married to her mother. If he had not been married, Sylvia would have been called illegitimate or a bastard or something along those lines.
Your backstory would make perfect sense in the world of the film, Fawn. Actually, novels of the time have a lot of instances of (1) widowed fathers leaving their children for others to raise and (2) marrying across race or class lines in their tempestuous youth, only to leave wife #1 behind when other opportunities arise.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your backstory! Like Stacey said it's one of the major inconsistencies and was never resolved within the movie. It's also speculation that it was the father in the room with Sylvia,when she was set up by her cousin, because it's a really fast and indistinguishable scene. I never really bought that it was her father (becuase it seemed so random to me). However after reading your backstory I'm able to see the possible connection.
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