PBS debuted “The War” on Sunday night, the much anticipated 15 hour documentary of the Second World War by Ken Burns, which has already been acclaimed as one of his best works.
The first two and a half hours were showcased at 8 tonight and if they are any indication of what is to come, the salvation of prime time may once again be at hand thanks to PBS.
While the commercial networks ramp up their new offerings of the same old things, PBS has entrusted Burns and co producer Lynn Novik to provide the graphic evidence and wonderful narratives to tell the tales of the American entry into the Second World War.
On the basis of the first night, they’ve done that and more, the first episode was a scene setter of sorts and introduction to the beginning of an American experience that would pull that country out of its isolationist stage and propel it on to the front of the world agenda from 1941 on.
Rather than follow the usual path of generals and politicians, tactics and platitudes. The War instead weaves the simple stories of those that fought the war and those left behind on the home front. With such a wide range of options to research, this approach has proven to be a wise strategy, as it brings the terror and tumult of the war to your television screen in a pace that touches the core of the American family.
The pictures and videos are graphic and plentiful throughout, at times too horrific to dwell on, yet much needed reminders of the brutality of war.
The narration fills in the unknowns, the dangers that await in the Philippine bushes, the underlying theme of small town America preparing for a war which didn’t arrive on their doorstep until Pearl harbour. Veterans recount their time in service, whether it be prisoners on the march to Bataan, as guerrilla fighters in the jungles or the last remaining Marines at Guadalcanal, gamely fighting off another Japanese offensive.
On the home front the tales are equally riveting, the expulsion of Japanese Americans to camps inland as war breaks out, a still controversial aspect of history. From the small towns scattered across America that sent their sons off to war, all is detailed with first hand accounts of ordinary people, recollections from a lost era that far too many neglect to take time to remember these days.
The Second World War has been described as the moment when Democracy pushed back the horrors of totalitarianism, but it came at a horrible cost in lives on all sides, a massive taking to arms to push back what at the time was called the purest of evils.
The Burns documentary in just its opening hours of its 15 hour examination provides much in the way of detail, information and humanity; an amazing blend of facts and personal accounts that no history book could ever hope to replicate.
It took six and half years to bring the project to its conclusion and still much was left on the cutting room floor, some it even too graphic for Burns and his team to fathom as they quilted together their amazing tapestry.
In the past a documentary series from Ken Burns has been the tale of epic expanse, the Civil War, Baseball and Jazz just three of his highest profile works and all pure gems in detail and information. The War, as they say could be his best work yet.
There are of course critics as there will be with any massive production such as this, Latino Americans as well as Native Americans are upset that their contributions to the war have not been fully detailed, a complaint that Burns tries to address with short vignettes that are to be included in a number of the seven episodes. Despite that complaint, it should not derail anyone from taking in the overwhelming amount of material that is about to pass through your television set over the next ten days.
Even those who can find fault with scene selections, redundant footage and frequent reminders of the core vision of the series, still say that the “scale and its scope overwhelm its flaws”.
The first two and a half hours were showcased at 8 tonight and if they are any indication of what is to come, the salvation of prime time may once again be at hand thanks to PBS.
While the commercial networks ramp up their new offerings of the same old things, PBS has entrusted Burns and co producer Lynn Novik to provide the graphic evidence and wonderful narratives to tell the tales of the American entry into the Second World War.
On the basis of the first night, they’ve done that and more, the first episode was a scene setter of sorts and introduction to the beginning of an American experience that would pull that country out of its isolationist stage and propel it on to the front of the world agenda from 1941 on.
Rather than follow the usual path of generals and politicians, tactics and platitudes. The War instead weaves the simple stories of those that fought the war and those left behind on the home front. With such a wide range of options to research, this approach has proven to be a wise strategy, as it brings the terror and tumult of the war to your television screen in a pace that touches the core of the American family.
The pictures and videos are graphic and plentiful throughout, at times too horrific to dwell on, yet much needed reminders of the brutality of war.
The narration fills in the unknowns, the dangers that await in the Philippine bushes, the underlying theme of small town America preparing for a war which didn’t arrive on their doorstep until Pearl harbour. Veterans recount their time in service, whether it be prisoners on the march to Bataan, as guerrilla fighters in the jungles or the last remaining Marines at Guadalcanal, gamely fighting off another Japanese offensive.
On the home front the tales are equally riveting, the expulsion of Japanese Americans to camps inland as war breaks out, a still controversial aspect of history. From the small towns scattered across America that sent their sons off to war, all is detailed with first hand accounts of ordinary people, recollections from a lost era that far too many neglect to take time to remember these days.
The Second World War has been described as the moment when Democracy pushed back the horrors of totalitarianism, but it came at a horrible cost in lives on all sides, a massive taking to arms to push back what at the time was called the purest of evils.
The Burns documentary in just its opening hours of its 15 hour examination provides much in the way of detail, information and humanity; an amazing blend of facts and personal accounts that no history book could ever hope to replicate.
It took six and half years to bring the project to its conclusion and still much was left on the cutting room floor, some it even too graphic for Burns and his team to fathom as they quilted together their amazing tapestry.
In the past a documentary series from Ken Burns has been the tale of epic expanse, the Civil War, Baseball and Jazz just three of his highest profile works and all pure gems in detail and information. The War, as they say could be his best work yet.
There are of course critics as there will be with any massive production such as this, Latino Americans as well as Native Americans are upset that their contributions to the war have not been fully detailed, a complaint that Burns tries to address with short vignettes that are to be included in a number of the seven episodes. Despite that complaint, it should not derail anyone from taking in the overwhelming amount of material that is about to pass through your television set over the next ten days.
Even those who can find fault with scene selections, redundant footage and frequent reminders of the core vision of the series, still say that the “scale and its scope overwhelm its flaws”.
.
There is of course the curious aspect that the rest of the world seems to be missing from the front lines, but it being an examination of the American experience it's probably not surprising that history doesn't start until 1941 and then stays completely focused on the American effort. His mission it would appear was to chronicle the American perspective, and that he does, while Canadians, Brits, Australians, New Zealanders and a host of others may find fault with that agenda, it's the scope of his movie, for better or worse. It doesn't detract from the informative nature of his production, rather it takes the greater conflict and portrays one nation's response to it.
And indeed finding fault is taking your eye off the ball as they say, it’s a monumental compilation of the rise of the new world of America, as the old worlds of Europe and Asia crumbled.
.
Somewhere down the line history will no doubt repeat itself, with new powers and changing alliances testing a new generation of the world’s citizens, and a somewhere, someone else will set about trying to catalogue and explain what happened and how, they would do a lot worse than to use Mr. Burn’s production as a template.
Below is a sample of some of the previews and backgrounders on the most ambitious project aired on PBS in the last few years.
Below is a sample of some of the previews and backgrounders on the most ambitious project aired on PBS in the last few years.
No comments:
Post a Comment