The War (documentary)
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.
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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]
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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]
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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.
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External links
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