Ken Burns is a national treasure. His films have documented the war that tore apart then united a nation (The Civil War), the origins of a truly American form of music (Jazz) and even our national pastime (Baseball). But his latest film, The War, co-directed with Lynn Novick, tackles the greatest cataclysm of our nation's short history — World War II.
It seems only natural that Burns would take on a subject that has served as the backdrop for countless books, movies, and television shows. The cultural effect that the war had and continues to have on American society is immense. However, those that were most profoundly affected by the war (including those most directly involved) have been silent for the most part. It was their stories that Burns intended to uncover and in the process paints a portrait of a more innocent America prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor that would thrust the United States into the middle of a conflict that it had tried hard to avoid.
Visually, the style of The War is similar to Burns' other films in that extensive footage and still photographs from the period are incorporated into the film. Perhaps most remarkable is the fact that much of the footage came from the war's veterans and their families. It took Burns and his crew six years to assemble the footage, which is not surprising when you consider how many thousands of miles of film they had to look at to assemble the final product.
Most remarkable is the producers' conscious choice to not include historians in the narrative. Indeed, this is a film that is not so much about military tactics or records of battles (although the film does a terrific job of explaining the progress of the war and is unflinching in its criticism of the Allies' blunders) but about the millions of ordinary citizens who were called into action to halt the progress of evil in order to preserve freedom. It is the stories of these ordinary citizens that are the most moving, the most profound.
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