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Anybody see this on PBS tonight? I only got to watch an hour of it but it's amazing. It's a narrated documentary about WWII. The stories told by folks from the era. It's so touching.
I am ashamed to say I was not aware of Ken Burns and his work but I am now! Hubby is a history enthusiast so I'm glad to have him around.
The pictures were pretty graphic but it tells the truth. I think every once in a while, we need to be reminded how much we take things for granted in life.
Apparently, Burns is being criticized by the Hispanic community for lack of representation in the doc. I don't know all the particulars. The documentaries on baseball and jazz era were excellent. I bought the music from the latter.
Last edited by tigerlily; 09-24-2007 at 08:24 AM..
Reason: addition
I've been watching too. I'm enjoying this documentary so far. My grandfather fought in WWII in France and Germany. I remember hearing his stories (near the end of his life, when I was deemed old enough, and he ceased to care, he was much more free with telling me what he saw on the front lines).
All four of my mom's brother were in WW II. My godfather was killed in a submarine during the war. Three of my uncles saw action. I was especially interested in the segment tonight on Italy as my favorite uncle fought there. Salon had an excellent analysis of the documentary.
Here's a clip: http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/...rns/print.html
Ken Burns makes deeply emotional films that pluck America's chords of memory. In the case of World War II, this approach feels absolutely right.
Sep. 25, 2007 | Sixty-two years ago, the greatest conflict in the history of humanity came to an end. Fifty to 60 million people had died. Many millions more were wounded or had lost their homes. Nations were shattered. The most appalling genocide ever had taken place. And for the first time, nuclear weapons had been used, raising the specter of human extinction.
Every way of trying to tell a story this vast carries with it blind spots, reveals its own assumptions and biases. Ken Burns' "The War" is no exception. But this magnificent 15-hour series will stand as one of the most extraordinary accounts of war ever made. Panoramic in its sweep, unflinching in its openness to all the faces of war, crafted with rare intelligence and sensitivity, "The War" is an epic achievement.
I have appreciated the coverage of the Pacific front.
When it comes to that aspect of the war, it seems like a lot of information has come out only recently.
They sure did hush up a lot of stuff; makes me wonder what we're not being told these days. But I understand the need for *some* discretion.
We've really been enjoying it. It makes me miss my father a lot. He served as a Marine in the Pacific and I only remember ever having one conversation with him about it. Wish he were still here to talk about it.
I've been watching it too (though tonight I'm recording it because it competes with the season premieres of both 'House' and 'Boston Legal' -- both shows to which we are addicted!). My father was in the South Pacific (New Caledonia) in the early 1940s. He never talked about the war, but my mother once told me that he was discharged for what was then called 'battle fatigue' -- I guess that is the same as what's called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder nowadays. I never realized what my father must have gone through until I began watching this series. I wish I had asked him more about that time in his life, because I see now that there is so very much I never knew. He died in 1994. :-(
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