THE CIVIL WAR on PBS next week
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Micah Cohen
Posts: 2,022
"You can't look at history from the safe position of
hindsight. One must realize that history is here,
right now, influencing us every day." -- Ken Burns,
filmmaker
This is a note because I couldn't let this occassion
pass without alerting my friends who may be
interested: the Ken Burns' documentary THE CIVIL WAR
is airing again next week on PBS (here in Balt/DC, on
MPT & WETA) starting on Sunday night, 9/22 at 8pm.*
If you've never seen this film, I can't recommend
ENOUGH that you stop what you're doing just for this
upcoming week and watch it, especially in that it is
broken up in easily-digestible chunks over the span of
the week. [You don't have to be ME, and watch it all
in one 11-hour sitting...] Reasons it's worth
watching:
1. It's simply the best, most interesting, most
entertaining, most innovatively made, most thorough
documentary film you will ever see (about anything).
2. It's been completely digitally remastered from the
original master negatives, with a new film-transfer,
color-correction and audio-mixing techniques - every
frame has been digitized and the sound remixed in
stereo. This broadcast will also feature a new
introduction by Ken Burns, special interviews with
Shelby Foote, Stanley Crouch and George Will, and new
behind-the-scenes material, including a side-by-side
demonstration of the remastered footage. It looks
about 100% more colorful, clearer, and better than
ever before. [I know this because I have the DVD set,
and all this is on the DVD -- and it's great!]
3. THE CIVIL WAR, and the issues it dealt with, is
still -- maybe more than ever -- relevant, and affects
all of us (and all of our social relationships and
governmental policies) everyday.
4. You will never see a Hollywood movie with a cast of
this many crazy wackos.
5. You'll laugh; you'll cry. (You will DEFINITELY
cry.)
6. David McCullough is the best narrator ever.
7. The event and the people involved continue to
affect American life, so wouldn't it be nice to know
more about them?
8. This is not your father's documentary; it's not a
high school history class documentary. It's THE
Documentary.
TIMES:
(The broadcast follows the structure of the amazing
new 5-disc DVD set, with two episodes per 2-hour time
slot. These are times for local Balt/MD broadcasts on
MPT/WETA.)
I - "The Cause - 1861" Sunday, September 22, 2002,
8:00 PM
II - "A Very Bloody Affair - 1862/Forever Free - 1862"
Monday, Sept 23, 2002 8:00 PM
III - "Simply Murder - 1863/The Universe of Battle -
1863" Tuesday, Sept 24, 2002 8:00 PM
IV - "Valley of the Shadow of Death - 1864/Most
Hollowed Ground - 1864" Wednesday, Sept 25, 2002 8:00
PM
V - "War Is All Hell - 1865/The Better Angels of Our
Nature - 1865" Thursday, Sept 26, 2002 8:00 PM
The whole sheebang will be rebroadcast in two big
chunks, one on Saturday & and one on Sunday (9/28-29),
starting at 4pm each day (on MPT).
Check your local PBS station website for their
schedule, but it'll probably be the same thing.
* Actually, "The American Experience" presents the
3-part Lincoln documentary "Abraham and Mary Lincoln:
A House Divided" starting at 2pm on 9/22 and ending at
8pm [on MPT in Balt]; this also is a very good
documentary about Lincoln, altho it does suffer from
"Ken Burnsism" in that it is a pale stylistic copy of
THE CIVIL WAR. Meanwhile, at 4pm that day on WETA,
their "The American Experience" doc will be the 2-part
"Ulysses S. Grant," which I have not seen. (But which
I'd like to see.)
hindsight. One must realize that history is here,
right now, influencing us every day." -- Ken Burns,
filmmaker
This is a note because I couldn't let this occassion
pass without alerting my friends who may be
interested: the Ken Burns' documentary THE CIVIL WAR
is airing again next week on PBS (here in Balt/DC, on
MPT & WETA) starting on Sunday night, 9/22 at 8pm.*
If you've never seen this film, I can't recommend
ENOUGH that you stop what you're doing just for this
upcoming week and watch it, especially in that it is
broken up in easily-digestible chunks over the span of
the week. [You don't have to be ME, and watch it all
in one 11-hour sitting...] Reasons it's worth
watching:
1. It's simply the best, most interesting, most
entertaining, most innovatively made, most thorough
documentary film you will ever see (about anything).
2. It's been completely digitally remastered from the
original master negatives, with a new film-transfer,
color-correction and audio-mixing techniques - every
frame has been digitized and the sound remixed in
stereo. This broadcast will also feature a new
introduction by Ken Burns, special interviews with
Shelby Foote, Stanley Crouch and George Will, and new
behind-the-scenes material, including a side-by-side
demonstration of the remastered footage. It looks
about 100% more colorful, clearer, and better than
ever before. [I know this because I have the DVD set,
and all this is on the DVD -- and it's great!]
3. THE CIVIL WAR, and the issues it dealt with, is
still -- maybe more than ever -- relevant, and affects
all of us (and all of our social relationships and
governmental policies) everyday.
4. You will never see a Hollywood movie with a cast of
this many crazy wackos.
5. You'll laugh; you'll cry. (You will DEFINITELY
cry.)
6. David McCullough is the best narrator ever.
7. The event and the people involved continue to
affect American life, so wouldn't it be nice to know
more about them?
8. This is not your father's documentary; it's not a
high school history class documentary. It's THE
Documentary.
TIMES:
(The broadcast follows the structure of the amazing
new 5-disc DVD set, with two episodes per 2-hour time
slot. These are times for local Balt/MD broadcasts on
MPT/WETA.)
I - "The Cause - 1861" Sunday, September 22, 2002,
8:00 PM
II - "A Very Bloody Affair - 1862/Forever Free - 1862"
Monday, Sept 23, 2002 8:00 PM
III - "Simply Murder - 1863/The Universe of Battle -
1863" Tuesday, Sept 24, 2002 8:00 PM
IV - "Valley of the Shadow of Death - 1864/Most
Hollowed Ground - 1864" Wednesday, Sept 25, 2002 8:00
PM
V - "War Is All Hell - 1865/The Better Angels of Our
Nature - 1865" Thursday, Sept 26, 2002 8:00 PM
The whole sheebang will be rebroadcast in two big
chunks, one on Saturday & and one on Sunday (9/28-29),
starting at 4pm each day (on MPT).
Check your local PBS station website for their
schedule, but it'll probably be the same thing.
* Actually, "The American Experience" presents the
3-part Lincoln documentary "Abraham and Mary Lincoln:
A House Divided" starting at 2pm on 9/22 and ending at
8pm [on MPT in Balt]; this also is a very good
documentary about Lincoln, altho it does suffer from
"Ken Burnsism" in that it is a pale stylistic copy of
THE CIVIL WAR. Meanwhile, at 4pm that day on WETA,
their "The American Experience" doc will be the 2-part
"Ulysses S. Grant," which I have not seen. (But which
I'd like to see.)
Post edited by Micah Cohen on
Comments
-
I just picked up the set on DVD ..Came out last Tuesday
-
p.s...its the same remastered version they are going to show next week...good stuff
-
doh!!! I guess I should have read all of Micah's post..he mentioned the dvd
-
Shelby Foote's 3-vol history looks long, but it reads short. He is interviewed in this documentary, I believe. When I got to Lincoln's assassination in the last volume, I had become so enveloped in it that I almost felt like it had just happened & the significance of the event was far more real to me than I could've imagined possible from just reading a book.Testing
Testing
Testing -
Yes, the Foote trilogy of books is monsterous in size, but an AMAZING read. It took him 25 years to write it. He's one of my favorite personalities in the documentary.
For a GREAT one-volume Civil War history, try MacPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom," it is a wonderful book.
Is anyone watching it on PBS? Any feedback on how PBS is showing it or what it looks/sounds like on broadcast TV?
MC -
its the exact same remaster as the one on DVD..too bad I dont have DVD recorder yet..I could have saved 79 bucks
-
I watched the last episode last night.
Watched this program last year on my sony 32 inch.
This year on the mits 55, watching the still photos was strange because I could see the camera movement.
Anyone else notice it?
-Luc -
Yeah, I guess I know what you're talking about. The film was made on such a shoestring that I think you can see some "wobble" in the still images. I recall that in high school when we were making still-image-films that it was ridicuclously difficult to get a solid image even tho the camera would be anchored every way to tuesday.
I hope on the DVD it's not distracting.
Wobble wobble.
MC -
Just finished the last episode last night on PBS here in CO. In a word....awsome.
-
The movement wasn't that bad, the frame just seemed to be floating ever so slightly.
Hey Micah,
don't want to say it really but....
the summer is gone.
it's fall now buddy -
Originally posted by Micah
Yeah, I guess I know what you're talking about. The film was made on such a shoestring that I think you can see some "wobble" in the still images. I recall that in high school when we were making still-image-films that it was ridicuclously difficult to get a solid image even tho the camera would be anchored every way to tuesday.
I hope on the DVD it's not distracting.
Wobble wobble.
MC
I did several of those in film class myself..with a solid tripod and a cable release the jitter was kept to a minimum -
I watched as much as I could. I hope to be able to see the whole thing someday. A little better planning on my part and I would've recorded it.Make it Funky!
