The Civil War

Article by Dave, The11thHour Man:

I was fortunate enough to receive the magnificent Ken Burns documentary The Civil War as a birthday gift recently from my in-laws. It is truly one of he greatest historical documentaries ever made. It was originally aired on PBS back in 1990 and I believe again in recent years.

As I recall the original airing got a lot of publicity and I assume a lot of people watching.

This got me thinking about a missed opportunity. Ever since the announcement was made that a Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum was going to be built here in Springfield, I've been saying, "It's about time!". And Ken Burns' The Civil War demonstrates nicely one reason why.Had the ALPLM been around in 1990, imagine the increase interest in (and influx of visitors to) the ALPLM at the time. Abe plays a big role in this film as you might guess. Burns even came here to film landmarks while making The Civil War. Opportunity missed. Ditto for the reshowing of the film a few years ago.

As for the recently released DVD, it has a few extras and presents a cleaned up version of the documentary. Cleaned up as in much improves visual quality that wasn't in the budget or technologically possible in 1990. This only adds to the film and certainly does nothing to take away from is grandness. It's amazing what Burns does to his subject without any moving footage of the Civil War era. One reviewer on Amazon described his style this way:

",.. voice-over narrators reading letters and documents dramatically and stating the writer's name at their conclusion, fresh live footage of places juxtaposed with still images (photographs, paintings, maps, prints), anecdotal interviews, and romantic musical scores taken from the era he depicts. The Civil War uses all of these devices to evoke atmosphere and resurrect an event that many knew only from stale history books.The result is something very relatable somehow."

Sure, in other documentaries, we see shows depicting foreign wars and lands or dry presentations of events here, but Burns, using the techniques described above, brings home the events taking place on the screen. You feel that this is America we are talking about and you feel it. The sounds of the summer afternoon bugs he interjects is all too familiar. It really brings home the fact that this all really happened and happened here. .

Keep in mind too, Burns' The Civil War is much more than the story of a military conflict. It depicts an entire national trama that affected everyone on and off the battlefield. The Civil War was a great upheaval that changed the nation and its people forever.