The War (documentary)
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| The War | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ken Burns and Lynn Novick |
| Produced by | Sarah Botstein, Ken Burns and Lynn Novick |
| Written by | Geoffrey C. Ward |
| Narrated by | Keith David with Tom Hanks, Josh Lucas, Bobby Cannavale, Samuel L. Jackson, Adam Arkin, Robert Wahlberg and Eli Wallach (amongst others) |
| Music by | Wynton Marsalis, "American Anthem" music/lyrics by Gene Scheer - performed by Norah Jones |
| Cinematography | Buddy Squires |
| Editing by | Paul Barnes |
| Distributed by | Public Broadcasting Service |
| Release date(s) | 2007-09-23 |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
The War is a 2007 World War II documentary produced by American filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, narrated primarily by Keith David. (Although the Internet Movie Database credits Mr. David with narrating only three of the episodes the War comprises, he in fact narrates every episode.)[1]
Contents |
[edit] Content
The film focuses on World War II in a "bottom up" fashion through the lenses of four "quintessentially American towns":
The film recounts the experiences of a number of individuals from these communities as they move through the war in the Pacific, African and European theaters, and focuses on the effect of the war on them, their families and their communities.
A number of notable actors including Adam Arkin, Tom Hanks, Ernie Hudson, Samuel L. Jackson, and Eli Wallach are heard as voice actors reading contemporary newspaper articles, telegrams, letters from from the front, etc.
The documentary is 14 hours and was broadcast in seven parts on PBS over two weeks, starting on Sunday, September 23, 2007 and continuing four nights the first week and three nights the second week, from 8 to 10 p.m. (8 to 10:30 p.m. on three nights). The documentary was provided to PBS affiliates in two versions: One with profanity generally prohibited by FCC regulations (including explanations of the acronyms FUBAR and SNAFU) and one without the expletives.[2]
[edit] Episodes
| Number | Name | Period Covered | Original Air Date (EDT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "A Necessary War" | December 1941-December 1942 | September 23, 2007, 8:00 PM - 10:30 PM [3] |
| 2 | "When Things Get Tough" | January 1943-December 1943 | September 24, 2007, 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM [3] |
| 3 | "A Deadly Calling" | November 1943-June 1944 | September 25, 2007, 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM [3] |
| 4 | "Pride of Our Nation" | June 1944-August 1944 | September 26, 2007, 8:00 PM - 10:30 PM [3] |
| 5 | "FUBAR" | September 1944-December 1944 | September 30, 2007, 8:00 PM - 10:30 PM [4] |
| 6 | "The Ghost Front" | December 1944-March 1945 | October 1, 2007, 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM [4] |
| 7 | "A World Without War" | March 1945-September 1945 | October 2, 2007, 8:00 PM - 10:30 PM [4] |
Each episode begins with the introduction:
- The Second World War was fought in thousands of places, too many for any one accounting.
- This is the story of four American towns and how their citizens experienced that war.
[edit] Episode 1: A Necessary War
Introduction to the American entry into WWII. Tells us about the four towns Burns selected for narration about the wartime experiences of the residents of those places. Covers the war in Europe; Pearl Harbor; The Draft; and, General MacArthur abandoning his troops at Bataan. Finishing with the Pacific campaigns of Midway and Guadalcanal.
[edit] Episode 2: When Things Get Tough
The North African Campaign; Philippines Non-combatant Internment Camp; Japanese Americans interned in the U.S.; Air War over Europe; Experiences of an American POW in Japanese "custody"; Invasion of Sicily; Mussolini deposed and Italy declares war on Germany; Anzio Landings and the Italian campaign; More Air War over Europe; Hitler strengthens the Atlantic Defenses against a possible Allied invasion.
[edit] Episode 3: A Deadly Calling
Racial segregation hampers the war production effort in the U.S.; Battle of Tarawa; Anzio; The Battle of Monte Cassino; The war effort in the United States; Acceptance of Blacks into combat units; The Anzio mess continues; Battle of Monte Cassino ends and the Gustav Line is broken; Breakout from the Anzio beachhead; Gen. Mark Clark's forces take Rome.
[edit] Episode 4: Pride of Our Nation
On D-Day, 1.5 million Allied troops embark on the invasion of France; The Marines fight a costly battle on the island of Saipan (See Battle of Saipan) in the Western Pacific.
[edit] Episode 5: FUBAR
This episode starts with the disastrous Allied assumption that the war in Europe would be over before the winter of 1944. It then covers Operation Market Garden (See also: A Bridge Too Far (book) and/or A Bridge Too Far (film)); The invasion of and battle for Peleliu; Experiences of Black servicemen; More coverage of the San Tomas internment camp for non-combatants in the Philippines; MacArthur returns to the Philippines; The heroism of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (Japanese-American) and the incompetence of General Dahlquist and the rescue of the Lost Battalion by the 442nd; The Battle of Hurtgen Forest; The downside of close air support; An American Indian recounts his combat experiences.
[edit] Episode 6: The Ghost Front
The Battle of the Bulge; More about San Tomas internment camp; The role of medics in combat; Pinups; San Tomas non-combatants freed (Philippines) only to be attacked by the Japanese; The battle for Manilla; More on American POWs in Japan; The Battle of Iwo Jima; The air war against Japanese cities; Ground combat in Western Europe; Gen. Patton attempts to rescue his son-in-law from German prison camp behind the German lines.
[edit] Episode 7: A World Without War
The Battle of Okinawa and Kamikaze attacks; FDR dies and Harry Truman becomes President; The Soviet assault on Berlin; The fall of the 3rd Reich; The liberation of the Nazi Concentration Camps and Death Camps; VE Day; Continuation of the Battle of Okinawa; The story of the USS Indianapolis; Atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; VJ Day and the surrender of the Japanese Empire on September 2, 1945; Epilogues. This is followed by David Brancaccio interviewing Ken Burns, Rev. Forbes, and Lynn Novick about what they were attempting to accomplish in this production.
[edit] Critical reception
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Time magazine's James Poniewozik named the series one of the Top 10 New TV Series of 2007, ranking it at #9.[5]
[edit] Controversy
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The War came under fire after previews during the editing process indicated no mention of the contributions of Hispanics to the war effort, whose representation in the war itself is estimated at up to half a million people; complaints followed later as to omissions of Native American contributions and those of women in uniform.[6][7][8] Originally the premiere was scheduled for September 16, 2007; the fact that this date is both Mexican Independence Day and the start of U.S. observance of National Hispanic Heritage Month drew additional fire from its detractors, and the initial airdate was later moved to September 23, 2007, with no comment from PBS.[9]
Although at first the dispute seemed to be settled with the inclusion of additional footage to address the omission, in subsequent weeks, groups began to question conflicting reports from Burns and PBS as to whether the additional footage would be provided as supplementary material or would be integrated into the overall program.[10][11][12] Burns initially insisted that re-editing the film was out of the question, with PBS defending that decision on the basis of artistic freedom. Over the months of May and June, as of mid-July, 2007, estimates put out by Burns suggested that additional footage showing interviews with two Hispanics and one Native American would be added to the series, for a total of 28 minutes additional footage to the nearly 15 hours the program was originally planned to cover; the additional footage would air at the conclusion of the selected episodes, but before each episode's final credits.[13]
News outlets began to report as of July 11 that the additional content had not been included in materials made available for preview by television writers and critics, prompting renewed discussion and speculation as to the eventual outcome of the debate. In an interview granted to the Austin American-Statesman that day, Latino filmmaker Hector Galán expressed surprise at this omission, but also confidence that the new content would appear in the finished product in a satisfactory form. He also addressed concerns raised by others that he had not been included in the panel presentations made to the critics, saying: "I didn't get invited, but that's OK. It's awkward, because it's not my film. I don't want to 'big-foot' his movie. I wouldn't want anyone to do that to me. I'm 100 percent certain our material will be included. I haven't seen exactly where it will be placed, but it will be incorporated into the story. We shot it, it's there and it's beautiful. It will not be tacked on after the credits."[14]
[edit] Notes
- ^ The War | Pbs
- ^ Means, Sean P.. "Memories of the War: Burns' new documentary tells story through everyday Americans' eyes", The Salt Lake Tribune, 2007-09-20. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
- ^ a b c d Airing Schedule 9/23-9/26. WV PBS Website. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
- ^ a b c Airing Schedule 9/30-10/02. WV PBS Website. Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
- ^ Poniewozik, James; Top 10 New TV Series; time.com
- ^ Guerra, Carlos. "Commentary: Honor Latinos' sacrifice even if 'The War' doesn't", San Antonio News Express, 2007-04-25. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
- ^ Dick Kreck. "Latinos left out of "The War"", Denver Post, March 4, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
- ^ Goodman, Amy. "PBS Criticized for Excluding Latino, Native Voices from WWII Documentary" ("rush transcript" version of interview of Maggie Rodríguez-Rivas), Democracy Now, 2007-04-13. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
- ^ Guerra, Carlos. "PBS' WW II film no longer on Diez y Seis, but still no Latinos", San Antonio Express-News.
- ^ Gamboa, Suzanne. "Hispanics Still Unhappy With Burns Film,", The Washington Post, Associated Press, 2007-04-12.
- ^ Farhi, Paul. "Ken Burns Agrees To Expand Documentary: Inclusion of Minority WWII Service Members Follows Latino Protests", The Washington Post, 2007-04-18, p. C-1.
- ^ Farhi, Paul. "Burns Won't Reedit 'War,' PBS Clarifies", The Washington Post, 2007-04-19, p. C-1. Retrieved on 2007-10-09.
- ^ Associated Press. "Ken Burns adds half-hour to 'The War' series to include Hispanic, American Indian veterans", 2007-07-11.
- ^ "Galán waiting to see his stories in 'The War,'", Austin American-Statesman, 2007-07-11. Retrieved on 2007-07-12.
[edit] External links
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