The Ken Burns' The Civil War episode guide on SideReel features original episode air dates for each season, plus show reviews, summaries and more. What border-state city was occupied by the Union Army to keep it from seceding? Ken Burns: The Civil War. Civil War Test. CIvil War Questions # 3. The Civil War is a 1990 American television documentary miniseries created by Ken Burns about the American Civil War.It was first broadcast on PBS on five consecutive nights from September 23 to 28, 1990. Over 39 million viewers tuned in to at least one episode, and viewership averaged more than 14 million viewers each evening, making it the most-watched program ever to air on PBS. What border-state city was occupied by the Union Army to keep it from seceding? Ken Burns: The Civil War. Civil War Test. Civil war part 2. ACCT 302: Chapter 17. THIS SET IS OFTEN IN FOLDERS WITH. Ken Burns Documentary #99 -152. CIvil War Questions # 3. Origins of the Civil War.
The Civil War | |
---|---|
A side portion of the 1991 VHS box set of nine volumes | |
Genre | Documentary |
Written by | Geoffrey C. Ward Ric Burns |
Directed by | Ken Burns |
Voices of | Sam Waterston Jason Robards Julie Harris Morgan Freeman Garrison Keillor Arthur Miller George Plimpton Jeremy Irons |
Narrated by | David McCullough |
Country of origin | USA |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 9 |
Production | |
Producer(s) | Ken Burns Ric Burns |
Cinematography | Ken Burns Allen Moore Buddy Squires |
Editor(s) | Paul Barnes Bruce Shaw Tricia Reidy |
Running time | 690 minutes/11 hours 30 minutes (9 episodes) |
Production company(s) | Kenneth Lauren Burns Productions (Florentine Films), WETA-TV |
Distributor | PBS |
Release | |
Original network | PBS |
Picture format | 1.33:1 |
Audio format | Mono |
Original release | September 23–28, 1990 |
External links | |
Website | |
Production website |
The Civil War is a 1990 American television documentaryminiseries created by Ken Burns about the American Civil War. It was first broadcast on PBS on five consecutive nights from September 23 to 28, 1990. More than 39 million viewers tuned in to at least one episode, and viewership averaged more than 14 million viewers each evening, making it the most-watched program ever to air on PBS. It was awarded more than 40 major television and film honors. A companion book to the documentary was released shortly after the series aired.[1]
The series was rebroadcast in June 1994[2] as a lead-up to Baseball, then remastered for its 12th anniversary in 2002, although it remained in standard definition resolution. To commemorate the film's 25th anniversary and the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's assassination, the film underwent a complete digital restoration to high definition format in 2015. This completely restored version aired on PBS September 7–11, 2015.
- 1Production
- 4Remastering
Production[edit]
Mathew Brady's photographs inspired Burns to make The Civil War, which (in nine episodes totaling more than 10 hours) explores the war's military, social, and political facets through some 16,000 contemporary photographs and paintings, and excerpts from the letters and journals of persons famous and obscure.
The series' slow zooming and panning across still images was later termed the 'Ken Burns effect'.Burns combined these images with modern cinematography, music, narration by David McCullough, anecdotes and insights from authors such as Shelby Foote,[3] historians Barbara J. Fields, Ed Bearss, and Stephen B. Oates; and actors reading contemporary quotes from historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Walt Whitman, Stonewall Jackson, and Frederick Douglass, as well as diaries by Mary Chesnut, Sam Watkins, Elisha Hunt Rhodes and George Templeton Strong and commentary from James W. Symington. A large cast of actors voiced correspondence, memoirs, news articles, and stood in for historical figures from the Civil War.
Burns also interviewed Daisy Turner, then a 104-year-old daughter of an ex-slave, whose poetry features prominently in the series. Turner died in February 1988, a full two and a half years before the series aired.
Production ran five years. The film was co-produced by Ken's brother Ric Burns, written by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ric Burns, edited by Paul Barnes with cinematography by Buddy Squires. It was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Music[edit]
The theme song of the documentary is the instrumental 'Ashokan Farewell', which is heard twenty-five times during the film. The song was composed by Jay Ungar in 1982 and he describes it as 'the song coming out of 'a sense of loss and longing' after the annual Ashokan Music & Dance Camps ended.'[4] It is the only modern piece of music heard in the film, and subsequently became the first ever single release for the Elektra Nonesuch label, which released the series' soundtrack album.[5] It became so closely associated with the series that people frequently and erroneously believe it was a Civil War song. Ungar, his band Fiddle Fever and pianist Jacqueline Schwab performed this song and many of the other 19th century songs used in the film.[6][7] Schwab's arrangements in particular have been acclaimed by many experts. Musicologist Alexander Klein wrote: 'Upon watching the full documentary, one is immediately struck by the lyricism of Schwab's playing and, more importantly, her exceptional arranging skills. What had been originally rousing and at times bellicose songs such as the southern 'Bonnie Blue Flag' or the northern 'Battle Cry of Freedom' now suddenly sounded like heart-warming, lyrical melodies due to Schwab's interpretations. The pianist not only changed the songs' original mood but also allowed herself some harmonic liberties so as to make these century-old marching tunes into piano lamentations that contemporary audiences could fully identify with'.[8]
A major piece of vocal music in the series is a version of the old spiritual 'We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder', performed a cappella by the African American singer, scholar and activist Bernice Johnson Reagon and several other female voices. The song appears on Reagon's album River of Life.
Voices[edit]
- Narrated by David McCullough
- Sam Waterston as Abraham Lincoln
- Julie Harris as Mary Chesnut
- Jason Robards as Ulysses S. Grant
- Morgan Freeman as Frederick Douglass and others
- Paul Roebling as Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
- Garrison Keillor as Walt Whitman and others
- George Black as Robert E. Lee
- Arthur Miller as William Tecumseh Sherman and others
- Christopher Murney as Elisha Hunt Rhodes
- Charley McDowell as Sam Watkins
- Horton Foote as Jefferson Davis
- George Plimpton as George Templeton Strong
- Philip Bosco as Horace Greeley
- Terry Courier as George B. McClellan
- Jody Powell as Stonewall Jackson and others
- Studs Terkel as Benjamin Butler and others
- Hoyt Axton as various
- John Hartford as various
- Colleen Dewhurst as various
- Shelby Foote as various
- Ronnie Gilbert as various
- Jeremy Irons as various
- Gene Jones as various
- Derek Jacobi as various
- Kurt Vonnegut as various
- Laurence Fishburne (credited as Larry Fishburne) as various
- Pamela Reed as various
- M. Emmet Walsh as various
Episode list[edit]
Each episode was divided into numerous chapters or vignettes,[7] but each generally had a primary theme or focus (i.e., a specific battle or topic). The series followed a fairly consistent chronological order of history.
No. | Episode | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 'The Cause' (1861) | September 23, 1990[9] | |
All Night Forever; Are We Free?; A House Divided; The Meteor; Secessionitis; 4:30 a.m. April 12, 1861; Traitors and Patriots; Gun Men; Manassas; A Thousand Mile Front; Honorable Manhood | |||
2 | 'A Very Bloody Affair' (1862) | September 24, 1990[10] | |
Politics; Ironclads; Lincolnites; The Peninsula; Our Boy; Shiloh; The Arts of Death; Republics; On To Richmond | |||
3 | 'Forever Free' (1862) | September 24, 1990[10] | |
Stonewall; The Beast; The Seven Days; Kiss Daniel For Me; Saving the Union; Antietam; The Higher Object | |||
4 | 'Simply Murder' (1863) | September 25, 1990[11] | |
Northern Lights; Oh! Be Joyful; The Kingdom of Jones; Under the Shade of the Trees; A Dust-Covered Man | |||
5 | 'The Universe of Battle' (1863) | September 25, 1990[11] | |
Gettysburg: The First Day; Gettysburg: The Second Day; Gettysburg: The Third Day; She Ranks Me; Vicksburg; Bottom Rail On Top; The River of Death; A New Birth of Freedom | |||
6 | 'Valley of the Shadow of Death' (1864) | September 26, 1990[12] | |
Valley of the Shadow of Death; Grant; Lee; In the Wilderness; Move By the Left Flank; Now, Fix Me; The Remedy | |||
7 | 'Most Hallowed Ground' (1864) | September 26, 1990[12] | |
A Warm Place in the Field; Nathan Bedford Forrest; Summer, 1864; Spies; The Crater; Headquarters U.S.A.; The Promised Land; The Age of Shoddy; Can Those Be Men?; The People's Resolution; Most Hallowed Ground | |||
8 | 'War Is All Hell' (1865) | September 27, 1990[13] | |
Sherman's March; The Breath Of Emancipation; Died Of A Theory; Washington, March 4, 1865; I Want to See Richmond; Appomattox | |||
9 | 'The Better Angels of Our Nature' (1865) | September 27, 1990[13] | |
Assassination; Useless, Useless; The Picklocks Of Biographers; Was It Not Real? |
Reception and awards[edit]
The series received more than forty major film and television awards, including two Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, Producer of the Year Award from the Producers Guild of America, People's Choice Award, Peabody Award, duPont-Columbia Award, D.W. Griffith Award, and the US$50,000 Lincoln Prize, among dozens of others.
The series sparked a major renewal of interest in the Civil War. It was widely acclaimed for its skillful depiction and retelling of the Civil War events, and also for drawing huge numbers of viewers into a new awareness of the historical importance of the conflict. Prior to this series, the Civil War had receded in popular historical consciousness since its 1960s centennial. Following the series, there was a sharp upturn in popular books and other works about the Civil War.[14]
Robert Brent Toplin in 1996 wrote Ken Burns's The Civil War: Historians Respond, which included essays from critical academic historians who felt their topics of interest weren't covered in enough detail and responses from Ken Burns and others involved in the series' production.
Historians Leon Litwack and Eric Foner were critical of the mini-series.[15] Foner wrote, 'Faced with a choice between historical illumination or nostalgia, Burns consistently opts for nostalgia.'[15]
Remastering[edit]
12th Anniversary[edit]
The entire series was digitally remastered for re-release on September 17, 2002 in VHS and DVD by PBS Home Video and Warner Home Video. The DVD release included a short documentary on how a Spirit DataCine was used to transfer and remaster the film.[16] The remastering was limited to producing an improved fullscreen standard definition digital video of the film's interpositive negatives, for broadcast and DVD. The soundtrack was also re-mastered and remixed in 5.1 Dolby Digital AC3 surround sound.
Paul Barnes, Editor & Post-Production Supervisor, Florentine Films at that time commented:
Ken Burns and I decided to remaster The Civil War for several reasons. First of all when we completed the film in 1989, we were operating under a very tight schedule and budget. As the main editor on the film, I always wanted to go back and improve the overall quality of the film. The other reason for remastering the film at this time is that the technology to color correct, print and transfer a film to video for broadcast has vastly improved, especially in the realm of digital computer technology.. We also were able to eliminate a great deal of the dust and dirt that often get embedded into 16mm film when it is printed.
25th Anniversary[edit]
For the 150th anniversary of the end of the War, and the 25th anniversary of the series, PBS remastered the series in high-definition. This work involved creating a new 4K Ultra High Definition digital master of the film's original camera negatives and was carried out in association with the George Eastman House, where the original 16mm negatives are preserved. It aired on PBS September 7–11, 2015.[17] Blu-ray and DVD editions were released on October 13, 2015.
Soundtrack[edit]
A soundtrack featuring songs from the miniseries, many of which were songs popular during the Civil War, has been released.
No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | 'Drums of War' | Old Bethpage Brass Band | 0:10 |
2. | 'Oliver Wendell Holmes' | Paul Roebling | 0:32 |
3. | 'Ashokan Farewell' | Jay Ungar, Matt Glaser, Evan Stover, Russ Barenburg, Molly Mason | 4:05 |
4. | 'Battle Cry of Freedom' | Jacqueline Schwab | 1:40 |
5. | 'We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder' | Bernice Johnson Reagon | 4:27 |
6. | 'Dixie' / 'Bonnie Blue Flag' | New American Brass Band | 1:57 |
7. | 'Cheer Boys Cheer' | New American Brass Band | 1:12 |
8. | 'Angel Band' | Barenburg, Jesse Carr | 1:07 |
9. | 'Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier' | Schwab, Carr | 1:44 |
10. | 'Lorena' | Ungar, Carr | 1:44 |
11. | 'Parade' | New American Brass Band | 3:30 |
12. | 'Hail, Columbia' | New American Brass Band | 2:06 |
13. | 'Dixie' (reprise, lament) | Bobby Horton | 2:06 |
14. | 'Kingdom Coming' | Glaser, Stover, Ungar, Art Baron, Mason | 1:01 |
15. | 'Battle Hymn of the Republic' | Ungar, Schwab | 1:38 |
16. | 'All Quiet on the Potomac' | Schwab | 1:12 |
17. | 'Flag of Columbia' | Schwab | 1:03 |
18. | 'Weeping Sad and Lonely' | Glasser, Schwab, Carr | 1:10 |
19. | 'Yankee Doodle' | Old Bethpage Brass Band | 0:41 |
20. | 'Palmyra Schottische' | New American Brass Band | 3:30 |
21. | 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home' | Old Bethpage Brass Band | 0:45 |
22. | 'Shenandoah' | John Levy, John Colby | 0:47 |
23. | 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home' (reprise) | Ungar, Yonatin Malin, Schwab, Mason, Peter Amidon | 1:00 |
24. | 'Marching Through Georgia' | Ungar, Mason, Amidon | 0:57 |
25. | 'Marching Through Georgia' (reprise, lament) | Schwab | 1:14 |
26. | 'Battle Cry of Freedom' (reprise) | Schwab | 2:33 |
27. | 'Battle Hymn of the Republic' (reprise) | Abyssianian Baptist Choir | 3:22 |
28. | 'Ashokan Farewell' / 'Sullivan Ballou letter' | Ungar, Roebling, David McCullough | 3:34 |
See also[edit]
- The War, World War II documentary by Ken Burns
References[edit]
- ^Ward, Geoffrey C.; Burns, Ric; Burns, Ken (1992) [First published 1991]. The Civil War: An Illustrated History. New York: Knopf. ISBN978-0679742777.
- ^''The Civil War', 'Gettysburg' capture history'. Southern Illonoisan. June 25, 1994. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
- ^''Civil War' audience 'discovers' storyteller-writer Shelby Foote'. TV Today. The Milwaukee Sentinel. September 25, 1990. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
- ^'The Civil War . The Film . Music of the Civil War'. pbs.org.
- ^DiMartino, Dave. 'Instrumental Soundtracks Chime In.' Billboard magazine, 16 February 1991, p. 55.
- ^Ashokan FAQArchived February 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ab'The Civil War . The Film . Episode Descriptions'. pbs.org.
- ^Alexander Klein, 'Scoring Ken Burns' Civil War: An Interview with Pianist Jacqueline Schwab'Film Score Monthly, April 2013.
- ^'Sunday Prime Time Television Listings'. The Milwaukee Sentinel. September 22, 1990. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
- ^ ab'Monday Prime Time Television Listings'. The Milwaukee Sentinel. September 24, 1990. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
- ^ ab'Tuesday Prime Time Television Listings'. The Milwaukee Sentinel. September 25, 1990. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
- ^ ab'Wednesday Prime Time Television Listings'. The Milwaukee Sentinel. September 26, 1990. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
- ^ ab'Thursday Prime Time Television Listings'. The Milwaukee Sentinel. September 27, 1990. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
- ^Thanks a Lot, Ken Burns, by James M. Lundberg, Salon. com, June 7, 2011.
- ^ abBradley, Mark Philip (February 1, 2019). 'Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's The Vietnam War'. The American Historical Review. 124 (1): 164–169. doi:10.1093/ahr/rhy579. ISSN0002-8762.
- ^'Why we decided to Re-master The Civil War'.
- ^Patrick Kevin Day (April 9, 2015). 'PBS to air remastered version of Ken Burns' 'The Civil War''. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Civil War (miniseries) |
- The Civil War on IMDb
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Civil_War_(miniseries)&oldid=909688816'
The War | |
---|---|
Genre | Documentary |
Written by | Geoffrey C. Ward |
Directed by | Ken Burns Lynn Novick |
Narrated by | Keith David |
Theme music composer | Wynton Marsalis 'American Anthem' music and lyrics by Gene Scheer performed by Norah Jones |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of episodes | 7 |
Production | |
Producer(s) | Ken Burns Lynn Novick Sarah Botstein |
Cinematography | Buddy Squires |
Editor(s) | Paul Barnes Erik Ewers Tricia Reidy |
Running time | 14 hours (total) |
Production company(s) | National Endowment for the Humanities |
Distributor | Public Broadcasting Service |
Release | |
Original release | September 23 – October 2, 2007 |
The War is a seven-part Americantelevision documentaryminiseries about World War II from the perspective of the United States. The program was produced by American filmmakersKen Burns and Lynn Novick, written by Geoffrey Ward, and narrated primarily by Keith David.[1] It premiered on September 23, 2007. The world premiere of the series took place at the Palace Theater in Luverne, Minnesota, one of the towns featured in the documentary.[2] Greeeen michi mp3 download. It was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Content[edit]
The series focuses on World War II in a 'bottom up' fashion through the lenses of four 'quintessentially American towns':
The series recounts the experiences of a number of individuals from these communities as they move through the war in the Pacific, African and European theaters, and focuses on the effect of the war on them, their families and their communities.
A number of notable actors including Adam Arkin, Tom Hanks, Keith David, Samuel L. How to uninstall bbm on blackberry 10 laptop. Jackson, Josh Lucas, Bobby Cannavale and Eli Wallach are heard as voice actors reading contemporary newspaper articles, telegrams, letters from the front, etc. Notable persons including Daniel Inouye, Sidney Phillips, Joe Medicine Crow and Paul Fussell were interviewed.
The full documentary runs 14 hours and was broadcast in seven parts on PBS over two weeks, starting on Sunday, September 23, 2007 and continuing four nights the first week and three nights the second week, from 8 to 10 p.m. (8 to 10:30 p.m. on three nights). The documentary was provided to PBS affiliates in two versions: One with profanity generally prohibited by FCC regulations (including explanations of the acronyms FUBAR and SNAFU) and one without the expletives.[3]
Episodes[edit]
Each episode begins with the introduction:
Ken Burns Civil War
The Second World War was fought in thousands of places, too many for any one accounting.
This is the story of four American towns and how their citizens experienced that war.
No. | Episode | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 'A Necessary War' (December 1941 – December 1942) | September 23, 2007 | |
Introduction to the American entry into World War II. Tells us about the four towns mentioned that Burns selected for its wartime experiences and of the residents of those places. By this time, they have already known of the early initial conflicts of World War II in Europe through newspapers and newsreels, but it was only through the attack on Pearl Harbor that roused an isolationist, unprepared country into mobilizing for war. But setbacks arose: The Philippines fell and with it the internment of Americans at Santo Tomas in Manila and the Bataan Death March. American shipping became easy prey for German U-boats along the American coast and in the Atlantic. But America succeeds in stopping the Japanese advances at Midway and Guadalcanal. | |||
2 | 'When Things Get Tough' (January–December 1943) | September 24, 2007 | |
With American industry in full production, the United States entered the European war through the North African Campaign where they, together with Allied forces, eventually defeat the Germans in Tunisia despite the initial disaster in the Battle of Kasserine Pass. The air war over Europe and the bombing of Germany. Allied forces commenced the Italian Campaign through the invasions of Sicily and Salerno, punctuated by the experiences of the soldiers from the towns featured. The internment of Japanese Americans is also further discussed. | |||
3 | 'A Deadly Calling' (November 1943 – June 1944) | September 25, 2007 | |
The American mobilization transformed cities like Mobile, Waterbury, and Sacramento into boom towns. Mobile thrived on its extensive shipyards that employed many African-Americans, but racial segregation hampers the war production effort in the United States, resulting in ugly riots like in Mobile. African-Americans, as well as Japanese-Americans, were nevertheless recruited by the armed forces into combat units and sent into action, though African-American units were still segregated. The American public finally gets to see the bloody sacrifice of their armed forces through pictures published in LIFE: one of these is the dead on the shore of Buna. The American offensive in the Central Pacific begins with the Battle of Tarawa. The grueling and costly battles of Anzio and Monte Cassino in the Italian campaign. Eventually, the Allies triumph and General Clark's forces take Rome. | |||
4 | 'Pride of Our Nation' (June–August 1944) | September 26, 2007 | |
1944: On D-Day, 1.5 million Allied troops embark on the invasion of France, which, after initial setbacks, succeeded. D-Day is followed by the lengthy Battle of Normandy, which ends after three months with the liberation of Paris. The Marines meanwhile fight a costly battle on the island of Saipan in the Western Pacific. These were punctuated by recollections of the participants of the designated towns. The American public, through radio, the press and newsreels, were normally kept informed of the progress of the war. However, as the war progresses, the dreaded War Department casualty telegrams appear at a fast rate. | |||
5 | 'FUBAR' (September–December 1944) | September 30, 2007 | |
This episode starts with the mistaken Allied assumption that the war in Europe would be over before the winter of 1944. It covers the disastrous Operation Market Garden; the bloody invasion and battle of Peleliu; the incompetence of General Dahlquist and the rescue of the Lost Battalion by the 442nd during the horrendous Battle of Hürtgen Forest. But there are achievements: General MacArthur returns to the Philippines following the US invasion, much of the Japanese fleet was destroyed at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the heroism of the Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team; the thrill of the internees at the Santo Tomas internment camp in Manila in seeing American planes strafing Japanese ships in Manila Bay and the fall of Aachen, the first German city to be captured by the Allies. There are the experiences of African-American servicemen and those of American Indians. But the reality is that the war will not end in 1944, and more ground will have to be covered and lives lost to achieve the ultimate victory. | |||
6 | 'The Ghost Front' (December 1944 – March 1945) | October 1, 2007 | |
The Germans launch a major surprise offensive in the Ardennes which becomes known as the Battle of the Bulge; the battle develops into the bloodiest of the war for the Americans. The siege of Bastogne and combat stress reaction during the war. The Santo Tomas internment camp is liberated following the Battle of Manila. The Marines assault Iwo Jima. The controversial air war against Japanese and German cities towards the end of the war. The final invasion of Germany and General Patton's attempts to rescue his son-in-law from a German prison camp behind the German lines. There are also insights into the role of medics in combat, pinups and American POWs in Japan. But still, there are newspaper reports of new setbacks and losses, and the endless and unendurable telegrams bearing the bad news from the War Department. | |||
7 | 'A World Without War' (March–September 1945) | October 2, 2007 | |
The War finally reaches its end: the bloody Battle of Okinawa and the kamikaze attacks. The death of President Roosevelt and the assumption to office of Harry Truman. The Soviets commence their final assault on Berlin. Hitler's suicide and the fall of the Third Reich. The awful reality of Nazi Germany is discovered with the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps and death camps. VE Day following Germany's surrender. The sinking of USS Indianapolis. Plans for the ultimate, long, and bloody conquest of Japan. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The liberation of the American POWs in Japan and VJ Day following the Japanese surrender at the USS Missouri. The episode concludes with the return and reunification of the American fighting men, and the fates of the towns and personalities first featured earlier in this series as they, and the United States, continue with the business of living in a postwar world. Extras: This is followed by David Brancaccio interviewing Ken Burns, Rev. Forbes, and Lynn Novick about what they were attempting to accomplish in this production. |
Ken Burns Civil War Episode 2 Questions
International releases[edit]
In some countries, notably Australia, Switzerland, Austria, France and Germany, The War was released as a 14-episode series. The region 4 DVD release of The War splits the series into 14 episodes, but notes that it is 'a seven-part documentary'.
Critical reception[edit]
Time magazine's James Poniewozik named the series one of the Top 10 New TV Series of 2007, ranking it at no. 9.[4]Alessandra Stanley, writing for the New York Times, gave the series a mixed review, praising it as a 'respectful, moving and meticulously illustrated anthology of small-town lives turned upside down by what one elderly veteran calls 'a necessary war,' while also faulting it for 'view[ing] the Second World War as a mostly domestic concern' in which 'the London blitz, Stalingrad, Bergen-Belsen and the Warsaw uprising are parentheses.'[5]Slate's Beverly Gage echoed these thoughts saying 'it's rousing and meaningful and not technically inaccurate, but not exactly the whole truth.' [6]
Controversy[edit]
The War came under fire after previews during the editing process indicated no mention of the contributions of Hispanics to the war effort, whose representation in the war itself is estimated at up to half a million people; complaints followed later as to omissions of Hispanic and Native American contributions and those of women in uniform.[7][8][9] Originally the premiere was scheduled for September 16, 2007; the fact that this date is both Mexican Independence Day and the start of U.S. observance of National Hispanic Heritage Month drew additional fire from its detractors, and the initial airdate was later moved to September 23, 2007, with no comment from PBS.[10]
Although at first the dispute seemed to be settled with the inclusion of additional footage to address the omission, in subsequent weeks, groups began to question conflicting reports from Burns and PBS as to whether the additional footage would be provided as supplementary material or would be integrated into the overall program.[11][12][13] Burns initially insisted that re-editing the series was out of the question, with PBS defending that decision on the basis of artistic freedom. Over the months of May and June, as of mid-July, 2007, estimates put out by Burns suggested that additional footage showing interviews with two Hispanics and one Native American would be added to the series, for a total of 28 minutes additional footage to the 14 hours the program was originally planned to cover; the additional footage would air at the conclusion of the selected episodes, but before each episode's final credits.[14]
News outlets began to report as of July 11 that the additional content had not been included in materials made available for preview by television writers and critics, prompting renewed discussion and speculation as to the eventual outcome of the debate.
Notes[edit]
- ^The War | Pbs
- ^Steil, Mark (September 6, 2007). 'Luverne prepares for 'The War''. MPRnews. Minneapolis: Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
- ^Means, Sean P. (2007-09-20). 'Memories of the War: Burns' new documentary tells story through everyday Americans' eyes'. The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
- ^Poniewozik, James; Top 10 New TV Series; time.com
- ^Stanley, Alessandra. 'The War - Ken Burns - PBS - Television - Review'. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ^Gage, Beverly (2007-09-20). 'Old Soldiers Never Lie'. Slate. ISSN1091-2339. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ^Guerra, Carlos (2007-04-25). 'Commentary: Honor Latinos' sacrifice even if 'The War' doesn't'. San Antonio News Express. Archived from the original on 2007-05-11. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
- ^Dick Kreck (March 4, 2007). 'Latinos left out of 'The War''. Denver Post. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
- ^Goodman, Amy (2007-04-13). 'PBS Criticized for Excluding Latino, Native Voices from WWII Documentary'('rush transcript' version of interview of Maggie Rodríguez-Rivas). Democracy Now. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
- ^Guerra, Carlos (2007-02-23). 'PBS' WW II film no longer on Diez y Seis, but still no Latinos'. San Antonio Express-News.
- ^Gamboa, Suzanne (2007-04-12). 'Hispanics Still Unhappy With Burns Film,'. The Washington Post. Associated Press.
- ^Farhi, Paul (2007-04-18). 'Ken Burns Agrees To Expand Documentary: Inclusion of Minority WWII Service Members Follows Latino Protests'. The Washington Post. p. C-1.
- ^Farhi, Paul (2007-04-19). 'Burns Won't Reedit 'War,' PBS Clarifies'. The Washington Post. p. C-1. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
- ^Associated Press (2007-07-11). 'Ken Burns adds half-hour to 'The War' series to include Hispanic, American Indian veterans'.
External links[edit]
- The War on IMDb
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_War_(miniseries)&oldid=905686674'