A Corner in Wheat (1909)
In the National Film Registry
•
13m
Greed drives tycoon to corner wheat market, enriching himself & starving citizens. A Corner in Wheat (1909), directed by D.W. Griffith, unlocked new dimensions of film editing.
While silent films relied heavily on single-shot scenes, Griffith employs a technique called cross-cutting. He intersplices scenes of the idyllic life of wheat farmers with the frantic manipulations of a greedy tycoon hoarding wheat to inflate prices.
This back-and-forth editing style creates a dynamic tension, urging the audience to connect the dots between the cause (market manipulation) and the effect (bread lines).
This innovation in storytelling helped pave the way for the complex narratives that would define future cinema.
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