Jennifer Latkiewicz,
Documentary Enthusiast, Ken Burns Junkie Documentaries
Documentary Enthusiast, Ken Burns Junkie
Ken Burns' The Civil War -- Burns' 10-hour magnum opus.
A documentary about The Battle of Gettysburg alone would have been a massive undertaking but Burns wanted to cover everything - every part, all of it. (It look him six years to finish the project -- two years longer than the actual war itself.) But even with such a staggering amount of subject matter, Burns was able to weave it together in a way that was so compelling, so riveting, that more than 40 million people tuned in during its initial broadcast. A 10-hour documentary on PBS captured the attention of 40 million Americans -- if that's not a major storytelling feat, I don't know what is.
The series is considered a milestone in the history of documentary TV & film -- it was honored with more than 40 major awards and critics hailed it as a masterpiece. It also introduced us to "Ashokan Farewell" as well as the "Ken Burns effect" we know and love so much as an option in iPhoto. More importantly, it was able to convey the magnitude of emotions felt by those who experienced it as well as the magnitude of the war itself... which makes for a pretty unforgettable experience.
Case in point: I was in 3rd grade when I watched The Civil War for the first time. My mom is a Civil War buff so she owned the entire series on VHS and lent it my teacher one day (which made my classmates pretty pissed off with me). We were a bunch of easily bored 8 year olds, after all. A 10-hour black and white movie that we'd be tested on later? We went into it preparing for major suckle but quickly found ourselves totally riveted by it. At that age we didn't understand the war's complexities but we definitely understood its impact because we felt it. I still remember how devastated I was to learn that some soldiers fought against their own brothers. You can't say people feel the same effect when watching "Baseball" or "Thomas Hart Benton."
If I had to choose another one, it'd be The National Parks: America's Best Idea. I've never given National Parks much thought but to learn how they came to be and the people who made it happen, calling them "America's Best Idea" seems totally appropriate. You definitely gain an immense appreciation for the parks, as well as the kickass awesomeness of John Muir and Theodore RooseveltQuote by Shelby Foote : "Any understanding of this nation(USA) has to be based, and I mean really based on an understanding of civil war…… the civil war defined us as what we are and it opend us to being what we became, all good and bad things."
像理解今天的中国大陆上的一切必须理解“饿怕了”的60年代，“搞政治”的70年代，“改革开发”的80年代，和今天对公共资源凿骨吸髓的“利益集团”一样。
理解美国，唯一有能力隔着大洋搞他国政权更替的豪强，必须从她的独立，内战和民权运动开始入手。直到2008年奥巴马当选，都可以看作是民权运动的继续。
北军的总司令，穷小子林肯（第16任民选总统），在打仗的同时立法成立了世界上第一个国家公园-黄石，
Chapter 1 1961 the cause
1860年，战争前一年，每七个美国人就有一个是奴隶。共4百万。
Are we free?
A house divided
