The War on PBS

I wrote about Ken Burns' PBS documentaryThe War just before it was broadcast back in July. I was a little weary about the documentary being a little unbalanced, which proved to be unfounded.

I wasn't able to watch it when it was broadcast originally but I recorded it and my wife and I were able to watch the whole 14 hour (give or take) series this Thanksgiving weekend. I have to be honest here and confess even though I've been given a copy of Burns' landmark documentary about the Civil War I haven't watched it. I did enjoy his documentary on Jazz and I think I did catch a few episodes of his baseball documentary.

I knew that The War would be good but I wasn't prepared for how amazing it was. Using very low-tech presentation tools, Burn's Tour-de-Force lets the people who lived the war tell their stories. I really felt a depth of understanding that I haven't in other documentaries. Its coverage of mainstream American's, Japanese American's, and African-American's experience during WWII works so well because Burn's doesn't try to overreach himself and tell every single story. He instead focusing on four American towns and the wars impact there.

It's highly recommended and we'll be watching parts of it in class.