As I write this, The War is just wrapping up Part One on TV. Dr. T asked me this morning if I was planning to watch, and I said no, because honestly I had no plans to watch, what seemed to me like "The [Modern] Civil War" in typical Ken Burns style.
To be fair, if you know the Burns mystique... this film isn't breaking a lot of new ground. Sure, Burns has eliminated the "knowledgeable talking head" aspect of bringing in historians and experts to shade the storyline, but he doesn't need them. With living veterans to photograph telling their own stories, his omnipresent narrator can fill in the factual blanks. And still we get the tasteful old photos, the readings of letters and news articles, the slow spinning of threads that will crisscross and re-cross as the story unfolds.
So far, I have to say I'm finding The War riveting, nevertheless. Burns is telling the story of World War II as he did The Civil War, from the perspective of the people who fought, reminding us at every step the consequences of war are violence, destruction and death. As controversial as it is ultimately simply a statement of fact, Burns is taking our usual, Easy Reader version of good vs. evil, distant discussion of WWII and contextualizes it and gives it the human dimension it needs. In doing so, he reminds us, really, why we give such respect to the veterans. These men speak of being boys, young, unworldly and naive, who quickly mature and change in the face of the conflict in front of them. Their survival, really, is what amazes.
It'll be the parlor game of the next couple of weeks to see who can grab the metaphor of The War - will it stand in for our discussions of Iraq, will it be purely a discussion of history, will it be a statement of political correctness that some cannot accept because it isn't sufficiently upbeat? The debate, really, is beside the point. The power of The War lies in what these amazing, ordinary people tell us about who we were, who we are, and what it meant to serve in that conflict. The conclusions, really, are up to each of us. And much as I tried to let it pass by, I think The War is must viewing, damn you, Mr. Burns. I'll be seeing you.
Told you it would be of value!
Dr T.
Posted by: weboy | September 27, 2007 at 03:10 PM