🔗 Share this article

Ken Burns has evolved into not just a filmmaker; he is a brand, a prolific creative force. With each new project premiering on the television, all desire a part of him.

Burns has done “more fucking podcasts than I ever thought possible”, he notes, approaching the conclusion of nine-month promotional tour comprising 40 cities, dozens of preview events and hundreds of interviews. “With podcasts numbering in the hundreds of millions, I feel I’ve participated in a substantial portion.”

Thankfully Burns is a force of nature, as loquacious behind the mic as he is productive in the editing room. At seventy-two has traveled from prestigious venues to mainstream media outlets to promote one of his most ambitious projects: this historical epic, a monumental six-part, 12-hour documentary series that occupied ten years of his career and arrived recently through the public broadcasting service.

Defiantly Traditional Approach

Like slow cooking in today’s rapid-consumption era, Burns’ latest project intentionally classic, reminiscent of The World at War rather than contemporary streaming docs new media formats.

For the documentarian, whose entire filmography exploring national heritage including baseball, country music, jazz and national parks, the nation’s founding is not just another subject but foundational. “I said this to my co-director Sarah Botstein during our discussions, and she shared this view: this represents our most significant project Burns reflects during a telephone interview.

Massive Research Effort

Burns, co-directors Botstein and David Schmidt along with writer Geoffrey Ward utilized numerous historical volumes and primary source materials. Dozens of historians, representing diverse viewpoints, offered expert analysis along with leading scholars representing multiple disciplines including slavery, indigenous peoples’ narratives and the British empire.

Characteristic Narrative Method

The documentary’s methodology will feel familiar to viewers of Burns’ earlier work. The characteristic technique featured methodical photographic exploration through archival photographs, generous use of period music featuring talent interpreting primary sources.

That was the moment Burns built his legacy; decades afterwards, now the doyen of documentaries, he can apparently summon numerous talented actors. Collaborating with the filmmaker at a recent event, renowned playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda noted: “When Ken Burns calls, you say ‘Yes.’”

All-Star Cast

The extended filming period also helped in terms of flexibility. Filming occurred in studios, at historical sites using online technology, an approach adopted amid COVID restrictions. The director describes collaborating with actor Josh Brolin, who made time in Atlanta to voice his character as the revolutionary leader before flying off to other professional obligations.

The cast includes numerous acclaimed actors, Jeff Daniels, Morgan Freeman, Paul Giamatti, diverse creative professionals, household names and rising talent, Samuel L Jackson, Michael Keaton, Tracy Letts, British and American talent, Edward Norton, David Oyelowo, Mandy Patinkin, small and big screen veterans, Dan Stevens, Meryl Streep.

The filmmaker continues: “Frankly, this may be the best single cast recruited for any project. They do an extraordinary service. They’re not picked because they’re celebrities. I got so angry when somebody said, about the prominent cast. I go, ‘These are actors.’ They’re the finest actors in the world and they vitalize these narratives.”

Historical Complexity

Still, no contemporary observers remain, photography and newsreels required the filmmakers to depend substantially on historical documents, weaving together the first-person voices of numerous historical characters. This allowed them to present viewers not only to the “bold-faced names” of the revolution along with multiple who are seminal to the story”, numerous individuals lack visual representation.

The filmmaker also explored his particular enthusiasm for maps and spatial representation. “I love maps,” he comments, “featuring increased geographical representation in this project compared to previous works throughout my entire career.”

International Impact

The team filmed at nearly a hundred historical locations across North America plus English locations to document environmental context and partnered extensively with re-enactors. These components unite to present a narrative more bloody, multifaceted and world-changing versus conventional understanding.

The film maintains, was no mere parochial quarrel concerning territory, taxes and political voice. Instead the film portrays a violent confrontation that finally engaged multiple global powers and unexpectedly manifested termed “mankind’s greatest hopes”.

Civil War Reality

Early dissatisfaction and objections leveled at London by far-flung British subjects throughout multiple disputatious regions quickly evolved into a vicious internal war, setting brother against brother and neighbour against neighbour. In episode two, the historian Alan Taylor observes: “The main misapprehension about the American Revolution is that it was something that unified Americans. This omits the fact that it was a civil war among Americans.”

Sophisticated Interpretation

For him, the independence account that “for most of us suffers from excessive romance and wistful remembrance and remains shallow and doesn’t have the respect for what actually took place, and all the participants and the extensive brutality.

It was, he contends, a revolution that proclaimed the world-changing idea of inherent human rights; a vicious internal conflict, separating rebels and supporters; and a global war, another installment in a sequence of conflicts between Britain, France and Spain for dominance in the New World.

Contingent Historical Events

The filmmaker also sought {to rediscover the