Ken Burns has become not just a filmmaker; he represents an institution, an unparalleled production entity. Whenever he releases documentary series heading for the television, all desire an interview.
Burns has done “countless podcast appearances”, he says, wrapping up of his marathon promotional journey featuring 40 cities, 80 screenings and hundreds of interviews. “There seems to be a podcast for every citizen, and I believe I’ve appeared on most of them.”
Happily Burns possesses boundless energy, as expressive in conversation as he is accomplished during post-production. The veteran director has gone everywhere from Monticello to popular podcasts to promote a career-defining series: this historical epic, a monumental six-part, 12-hour documentary series that consumed the past decade of his life and premiered recently on PBS.
Similar to traditional cooking in today’s rapid-consumption era, this documentary series proudly conventional, evoking memories of The World at War as opposed to modern online content new media formats.
However, for the filmmaker, whose professional life exploring national heritage including baseball, country music, jazz and national parks, its origin story transcends ordinary historical coverage but essential. “As I mentioned to directing partner Sarah Botstein the other day, and she agreed: this represents our most significant project Burns contemplates by phone from New York.
Burns, co-directors Botstein and David Schmidt and screenwriter Geoffrey Ward utilized thousands of books and other historical materials. Multiple academic experts, spanning age and perspective, contributed scholarly insights together with prominent academics representing multiple disciplines such as enslavement studies, first nations scholarship and imperial studies.
The style of the series will appear similar to viewers of Burns’ earlier work. Its distinctive style featured gradual camera movements through archival photographs, extensive employment of contemporary scores and actors reading diaries, letters and speeches.
This period represented Burns built his legacy; a generation later, now the doyen of documentaries, he can attract numerous talented actors. Appearing alongside Burns at a recent event, acclaimed writer Lin-Manuel Miranda commented: “Nobody declines an invitation from Ken Burns.”
The decade-long production schedule also helped in terms of flexibility. Filming occurred in studios, on location and remotely via Zoom, an approach adopted during the pandemic. The director describes working with Josh Brolin, who scheduled a brief window during his travels to record his lines as George Washington before flying off to subsequent commitments.
Brolin is joined by numerous acclaimed actors, Jeff Daniels, Morgan Freeman, Paul Giamatti, Domhnall Gleeson, Amanda Gorman, Jonathan Groff, Tom Hanks, Ethan Hawke, Maya Hawke, celebrated film and stage performers, British and American talent, Edward Norton, David Oyelowo, Mandy Patinkin, television and film stars, plus additional notable names.
The filmmaker continues: “Frankly, this may be the best single cast gathered for any production. They do an extraordinary service. Their celebrity status wasn’t the criteria. I became frustrated when someone asked, about the prominent cast. I go, ‘These are actors.’ They represent global acting excellence and they animate historical material.”
Nevertheless, the absence of living witnesses, modern media required the filmmakers to depend substantially on the written word, combining individual perspectives of numerous historical characters. This allowed them to present viewers beyond the prominent leaders of the founders but also to “dozens of others who are seminal to the story”, numerous individuals remain visually unknown.
Burns additionally pursued his particular enthusiasm for geography and cartography. “I love maps,” he observes, “and there are more maps in this project compared to previous works across my complete filmography.”
The team filmed at numerous significant sites across North America plus English locations to preserve geographical atmosphere and partnered extensively with historical interpreters. All these elements combine to depict events more brutal, complicated and internationally important versus conventional understanding.
The film maintains, represented more than local dispute concerning territory, taxes and political voice. Instead the film portrays a blood-soaked struggle that eventually involved more than two dozen nations and unexpectedly manifested what it calls “mankind’s greatest hopes”.
What had begun as a jumble of grievances aimed at the crown by American colonists in 13 fractious colonies quickly evolved into a brutal civil conflict, pitting family members against each other and creating local enmities. During the second installment, the historian Alan Taylor observes: “The primary misunderstanding regarding the Revolutionary War involves believing it represented that unified Americans. This ignores the truth that Americans fought each other.”
In his view, the revolutionary narrative that “generally is drowning in sentimentality and wistful remembrance and remains shallow and fails to properly acknowledge for what actually took place, all contributors and the incredible violence of it.
Taylor maintains, a movement that announced the world-changing idea of the unalienable rights of people; a brutal civil war, pitting Patriots against Loyalists; and a worldwide engagement, continuing previous patterns of wars between imperial nations for control of the continent.
Burns also wanted {to rediscover the
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