NB – Another ancient/archival entry! I’ll be doing a fair few of these; moving stuff off my iPhone(s), and on to the blog.
We in the UK can be a bit sniffy about our cousins across the pond over some issues, and decent TV documentaries would be a case in point. I recall seeing a British film-maker, I forgot who now, recalling with great exasperation the total disinterest in factual TV in the US, let alone in in-depth historical series, when he was attempting to raise finds for a factual programme. However, we’re dealing here with America’s own domestic history, and no doubt that helped the Burns brothers get their film made.
I never saw the original set, so can’t judge if this remastered version is a marked improvement or not. But I can certainly say that it’s a terrifically engaging and rewarding study. At the time of writing we’re two-thirds of the way thought the nine-episode series (there are 6 discs: five for the series, and a sixth with bonus materials). The episodes vary in lengths, ranging from about an hour, to over an hour and a half. So that’s about 10 hours in all.
There are a number of very good aspects to the series: much use is made of actors voicing the words of the protagonists, and this is done very well (with such luminaries as Garrison Keillor, Kurt Vonnegut, Morgan Freeman, Jeremy Irons and even Derek Jacobi amongst the ‘voice talent’) – and there’s much that is poignant or witty, and sometimes both; this was one of the first major wars to be heavily photographed, and the images are incredible, both evoking an era that’s almost Napoleonic, and yet becomes almost contemporary via these amazing images; good use is made of attractive maps throughout the series; there are some very eloquent and interesting talking heads, with ACW buff Shelby Foote stealing the show with his erudite but avuncular mix of knowledge and southern charm.
The use of music and landscape in the series is extremely good, to the point that it is mesmerisingly seductive, which makes for very enjoyable viewing but might perhaps also sit somewhat oddly with the very macabre nature of the subject. Another clever ploy is that not only is there great reliance on first hand accounts, but they also ‘follow’ the fortunes of key players, and these range from the famous Titans, like Lincoln, Davis and generals like Grant and Lee, to the likes of mere cannon-fodder, such as Sam Watkins (Confederate) and Elijah Hunt Rhodes (Union).
There are numerous points where, if you’re anything like me, you might well be moved to tears, as when Sullivan Ballou writes to his wife not long before the first battle of Bull Run, or when you hear some of the stirring words spoken on the topic of the emancipation slaves. I might come back to this review and amend it once we finish the series, but so far, so very, very, very good indeed.
NOTES
Disc 1 – The Cause:
‘That which is not just is not law’ ‘I am in earnest, I will not equivocate… I will not retreat a single inch, and I will be heard’ – William Lloyd Garrison
Ep. 6
From The Wilderness to Cold Harbour (1)
We walked in the shadow of death (2)
Fifty thousand dead (3), men fall like leaves (4)
Cross the Chickahominy, on to Petersburg (5)
I begin to see it, you will succeed (6)
1 – narrative
2 – ?
3 – narrative
4 – Mary Chesnut
5 – narrative
6 – Lincoln