Ken Burns Documents The War
PBS Series Focuses on 50 World War II Americans
"The War" is a 14-hour documentary based on personal WWII battlefield and home front experiences. It includes Tom Hanks and music by both Wynton Marsalis and Gene Scheer
"The War" is a simply titled, but complicated seven-part television series about 50 Americans who lived during World War II. The PBS show comes from Ken Burns, the same celebrated producer/director who put together documentaries on "Jazz," "Baseball" and "The Civil War."
Despite the title, Burns said the 14 hours of film is more about war, than ‘The War" or "The Good War," a couple of capitalized names that many Americans apply to World War II. With considerable justification, Burns takes issue with calling WWII ‘The Good War."
"It’s the worst war ever," he said in a WAMC Radio interview with Alan Chartock. "It’s the greatest event in human history and the greatest cataclysm in human history, resulting in the deaths of nearly 60 million human beings."
Talking About All War
Burns said the experiences of World War II that are documented in his newest film are similar to those of all wars. "We’re essentially talking about all war," he said.
The PBS, series, which was six years in the making, tells the WWII story through the personal accounts of 50 Americans. Those accounts are accompanied by sometimes gruesome battlefield film footage and photographs and realistic sound effects. It also features original music by Wynton Marsalis and "American Anthem" by Gene Scheer.
The 50 Americans were located in four randomly selected cities: Sacramento, CA, Luverne, MN, Waterbury, CN and Mobile, AL. Forty of them are shown being interviewed in the series. The stories of the 10 who died before the film was made are told by actors, including Tom Hanks.
Some of the 50 spent the war on battlefields, some on the home front.
Burns said he has tried to put personal experiences into context with actual war film footage, hoping the two will show what war, no matter which war, really is.
No Political Agenda
He insists he had no political agenda in producing the series. The film doesn’t have "a political bone in its body," he said..
One purpose of the film, he said, is to examine the amazing unity that Americans demonstrated in World War II. He calls the WWII effort "the greatest concerted effort in American history.
"There were no red states. There were no blue states. Everybody had their oar in the water, pulling in the same direction."
That’s a bit oversimplified because there were blue states and a few red states. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had his critics and enemies, including most newspaper editors. General Douglas MacArthur had something of his own agenda, as did John L. Lewis and the labor unions. There were hoarders and profiteers, "slackers" and some unjustified 4-F classifications.
But all those were in the minority and the American performances, on both the war and home fronts, were historic. And they changed the world forever.
PBS was scheduled to premiere "The War" on Sunday, Sept. 17. It planned to show four episodes that week and three the next week.
http://www.chartock.net/kburns.html
