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Ken Burns "The War" (2007) gets a run on PBS
StaxVolt
Posts: 161 Forum Member
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Although it was made in 2007 I know I haven't seen it before and warmly welcome any documentary made by this extraordinary film maker.
This 14 hours long series that gives an American perspective from four real American families of the Second World War,is to be shown in 7 x 2 hour segments from the 1st September.I will be putting this on my series link as Burns rarely disappoints.
Having grown up in the 50's and 60's and probably in common with some FMs,I have an overly-developed cynicism towards the collective US contribution in this war thanks to the horribly jingoistic John Wayne et al who in almost all US war movies (Sam Fuller's excepted),appeared at the top of the hill,just in time and when all European hope for survival was lost,to save the day.
I would like to see Mr Burns set this record straight and perhaps explain their country's distinct lack of interest in European political upheaval from 1933 onwards.Apart from developing hugely profitable trade links with virtually all the countries involved in this war,imo,the US practically sat on their hands watching the wealth roll in until Pearl Harbor while the Nazis went about their Fuhrer's madness.
http://www.pbs.org/thewar/about_letter_from_producers.htm
No Peter Coyote narration this time regrettably (Keith David) but the list of actors lending their voices to this production is still impressive.
This 14 hours long series that gives an American perspective from four real American families of the Second World War,is to be shown in 7 x 2 hour segments from the 1st September.I will be putting this on my series link as Burns rarely disappoints.
Having grown up in the 50's and 60's and probably in common with some FMs,I have an overly-developed cynicism towards the collective US contribution in this war thanks to the horribly jingoistic John Wayne et al who in almost all US war movies (Sam Fuller's excepted),appeared at the top of the hill,just in time and when all European hope for survival was lost,to save the day.
I would like to see Mr Burns set this record straight and perhaps explain their country's distinct lack of interest in European political upheaval from 1933 onwards.Apart from developing hugely profitable trade links with virtually all the countries involved in this war,imo,the US practically sat on their hands watching the wealth roll in until Pearl Harbor while the Nazis went about their Fuhrer's madness.
http://www.pbs.org/thewar/about_letter_from_producers.htm
No Peter Coyote narration this time regrettably (Keith David) but the list of actors lending their voices to this production is still impressive.
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And I have seen Burns' documentary. It is useless looking to that for any kind of exploration of US government policy at the time (something which can be found elsewhere, notably in any number of books). Burns' documentary is all about a small number of ordinary Americans and American families and communities affected by the war. It is "social history" -- from the vantage point of the little people -- rather than "big picture" political or military history.
I agree and this is precisely what makes Ken Burns a genius.
All his documentaries tell the story from the point of view of the ordinary person, This makes it far more real and relatable IMO.
His Civil War is exceptional. I've seen it about 4 times now and while hating Baseball it was amazing how much interesting stuff was in his documentary about that. Like you say it's the social, human touches that make Ken Burns stand out.
The WWII documentary? Sure, it aired on PBS in 2007. The OP mentions that. Or are you referring to the "PBS America" channel in the UK?
I disagree with your assertion that ...
"Hitler was a European problem, and Europeans are keen to tell Americans to mind their own business -- up until they want Americans to do dirty work for them, of course." ... but suspect that this is not the place to discuss this further.
I find it much more interesting to discover what various levels of rank on both sides were thinking about when they asked themselves "What exactly were they doing there?" and as Tally points out this is precisely what makes Burns' documentaries great.
I should have just left it at the "Heads Up" news.