This is one of Griffith’s greatest films. The storyline is very clear and taut and an indicator of what narrative cinema can be on a personal storyline level. The scope is not epic in the sense of Birth of a Nation nor Intolerance, yet it has more of a narrative arc than Broken Blossom in terms of the physical journey of the character, with different scenarios and a climactic build-up, and so it really suggests the possibilities of what the medium of film can do in terms of engaging you on a journey with a character in a way that resonates on a personal level, not an entertainment or experiential level.
And this is aided by the furthered development of editing in the sense of cutting from wide shots to close ups to mediums to close ups to wides, etc... to again both provide context and subtext. You get the actions in the wides as well as the narrative focus of the close ups and emotional subtelties of the characters. This editing pattern, which Griffith pioneered in Birth of a Nation and is now honing with Orphans of the Storm is the textbook manner by which narrative films are made. It is the epitome of narrative flow and one that aids the build up to a climax.
And I would relate that true sense of "captured reality" back to the running theme that these silent films really attempted to reflect the woes of human struggle onto the screen in as unfiltered a way as possible because that was the brutal truth of the time and there wasn't such a social complexity built up around hiding that struggle or creating euphemisms for it.
A notable aspect of this film is the fact that Lilian Gish plays a heroine. I find the depictions of women in silent film to be far more beneficial portrayals of women than how female characters are portrayed in the late 30's especially into the 50's (this is something we will examine with the introduction of the Hays Code in 1934) but there really does seem to be a promotion of strong, independent female characters, despite the obvious sexist and oppressive laws that existed at the time. Yes, women didn't own much wealth or property and had severe laws restricting their rights in regards to abortion, divorce, etc... and many of the female characters in films ended up having to "get married to be happy." But they had screen time, and lots of it. They often fought back and won several fights for their survival and happiness. They are often shown as the anchor or rock of the family unit that keeps everything together and have amazing close ups that display a passion and fire inside of them that really does seem to go away in the later decades, replaced by a subservience and submission that stands in stark contrast to the portrayals of women in this period.