The Civil War is an acclaimed
documentary filmDocumentary film is a broad category of visual expressions that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality. Although "documentary film" originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and digital productions that can...
created by
Ken BurnsKenneth Lauren "Ken" Burns is an American director and producer of documentary films known for his style of making use of archival footage and photographs...
about the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
. It was first broadcast on PBS on five consecutive nights from Sunday, September 23 to Thursday, September 27, 1990. Forty million viewers watched it during its initial broadcast, making it the most watched program ever to air on PBS, to this day remaining one of the most popular shows broadcast by PBS. It is considered to be Ken Burns's
magnum opusMagnum opus , from the Latin meaning great work, refers to the largest, and perhaps the best, greatest, most popular, or most renowned achievement of an author, artist, or composer.The term Great Work is also used in several...
, and is one of the most awarded and most popular documentaries of all time.
The documentary is 11 hours in length, consists of nine episodes and makes extensive use of more than 16,000 archival photographs, paintings, and newspaper images from the time of the war.
The Civil War is an acclaimed
documentary filmDocumentary film is a broad category of visual expressions that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality. Although "documentary film" originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and digital productions that can...
created by
Ken BurnsKenneth Lauren "Ken" Burns is an American director and producer of documentary films known for his style of making use of archival footage and photographs...
about the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
. It was first broadcast on PBS on five consecutive nights from Sunday, September 23 to Thursday, September 27, 1990. Forty million viewers watched it during its initial broadcast, making it the most watched program ever to air on PBS, to this day remaining one of the most popular shows broadcast by PBS. It is considered to be Ken Burns's
magnum opusMagnum opus , from the Latin meaning great work, refers to the largest, and perhaps the best, greatest, most popular, or most renowned achievement of an author, artist, or composer.The term Great Work is also used in several...
, and is one of the most awarded and most popular documentaries of all time.
The documentary is 11 hours in length, consists of nine episodes and makes extensive use of more than 16,000 archival photographs, paintings, and newspaper images from the time of the war. These are intermixed with contemporary
cinematographyCinematography , is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for the cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
,
musicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, narration by
David McCulloughDavid Gaub McCullough is an American author, narrator, and lecturer. He is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award.Born and raised in Pittsburgh, McCullough attended Yale...
, anecdotes and insights from authors such as
Shelby FooteShelby Dade Foote, Jr. was an American novelist and a noted historian of the American Civil War, writing a massive, three-volume history of the war entitled The Civil War: A Narrative...
, historians
Barbara J. FieldsBarbara Jeanne Fields is a professor of American history at Columbia University. Her focus is on the history of the American South, 19th century social history, and the transition to capitalism in the United States....
,
Ed BearssEdwin Cole Bearss , a United States Marine Corps veteran of World War II, is a military historian and author known for his work on the American Civil War and World War II eras and is a popular tour guide of historic battlefields...
, and
Stephen B. OatesStephen B. Oates is a former professor of history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is an expert in 19th-century United States history....
, and a chorus of voice acted characters such as
Sam WaterstonSamuel Atkinson Waterston is an American actor noted particularly for his portrayal of Jack McCoy on the NBC television series Law & Order. He has also appeared in many feature films.-Early life:...
as
Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery...
,
Julie HarrisJulie Harris is an American stage, screen, and television actress. She has won five Tony Awards and three Emmy Awards, and was nominated for an Academy Award. She is a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame...
as Mary Chestnut,
Jason RobardsJason Nelson Robards, Jr., was an American actor and a WWII U.S. Navy combat veteran. He became famous playing works of American dramatist Eugene O'Neill, and would regularly play O'Neill's works throughout his career...
as
Ulysses S. GrantUlysses S. Grant was general-in-chief of the Union Army from 1864 to 1869 during the American Civil War and the 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877....
,
Garrison KeillorGary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, columnist, musician, satirist, and radio personality...
as
Walt WhitmanWalter Whitman was an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. He was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
, Jody Powell as
Stonewall JacksonThomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and probably the most well-known Confederate commander after General Robert E. Lee. His military career includes the Valley Campaign of 1862 and his service as a corps commander in the Army of Northern...
,
John Bell HoodJohn Bell Hood was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Hood had a reputation for bravery and aggressiveness that sometimes bordered on recklessness...
, and
Nathan Bedford ForrestNathan Bedford Forrest was a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War...
,
Philip Bosco-Early life:Bosco was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of Margaret Raymond , a policewoman, and Philip Lupo Bosco, a carnival worker. Bosco went to high school at St. Peter's Preparatory School in Jersey City. He attended the Catholic University of Washington, D.C.-Career:Bosco began his...
as
Horace GreeleyHorace Greeley was an American editor of a leading newspaper, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, and a politician...
and
Morgan FreemanMorgan Porterfield Freeman, Jr. is an American actor, film director, and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice....
as
Frederick DouglassFrederick Douglass Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, (born circa 1818 February 20, 1895) was an American abolitionist, women's suffragist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer...
, who read quotes from the historic figures of the period. The film was remastered on the twelfth anniversary of its release, and a book following the movie has also been released.
Musical theme
The theme song of the documentary, "
Ashokan Farewell"Ashokan Farewell" is a piece of music composed by Jay Ungar in 1982. It was later used as the title theme of the 1990 PBS television miniseries, The Civil War, as well as the 1991 compilation album, Songs of the Civil War....
," which was performed for the film by its composer
Jay UngarJay Ungar is an American musician and composer. Ungar was born in the Bronx , the son of immigrant parents from Eastern Europe. He frequented Greenwich Village music venues during his formative period, and was a member of Cat Mother and the all-night newsboys & the Putnam String County Band...
, became so closely associated with the war thanks to the film that people frequently and erroneously believe it was written and performed during the Civil War. In fact, it is the only piece in the entire soundtrack which was not from the Civil War period.
Voices
Described as "voices", a large cast of actors dub correspondences, memoirs, news articles, and the like from the Civil War.
- David McCullough
David Gaub McCullough is an American author, narrator, and lecturer. He is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award.Born and raised in Pittsburgh, McCullough attended Yale...
...Narrator
- Sam Waterston
Samuel Atkinson Waterston is an American actor noted particularly for his portrayal of Jack McCoy on the NBC television series Law & Order. He has also appeared in many feature films.-Early life:...
...Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery...
- Julie Harris
Julie Harris is an American stage, screen, and television actress. She has won five Tony Awards and three Emmy Awards, and was nominated for an Academy Award. She is a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame...
...Mary Chesnut
- Jason Robards
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr., was an American actor and a WWII U.S. Navy combat veteran. He became famous playing works of American dramatist Eugene O'Neill, and would regularly play O'Neill's works throughout his career...
...Ulysses S. GrantUlysses S. Grant was general-in-chief of the Union Army from 1864 to 1869 during the American Civil War and the 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877....
- Morgan Freeman
Morgan Porterfield Freeman, Jr. is an American actor, film director, and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice....
...Frederick DouglassFrederick Douglass Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, (born circa 1818 February 20, 1895) was an American abolitionist, women's suffragist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer...
†
- Paul Roebling...Joshua Chamberlain
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was an American college professor from the State of Maine, who volunteered during the American Civil War to join the Union Army. Although having no earlier education in military strategies, he became a highly respected and decorated Union officer, reaching the rank of...
- Garrison Keillor
Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, columnist, musician, satirist, and radio personality...
...Walt WhitmanWalter Whitman was an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. He was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
†
- George Black...Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career United States Army officer, an engineer, and among the most celebrated generals in American history. Lee was the son of Major General Henry Lee III "Light Horse Harry" , Governor of Virginia, and his second wife, Anne Hill Carter...
- Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include awards-winning plays such as All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, and The Crucible.Miller was often in the public eye, particularly during the late 1940s, 1950s and...
...William Tecumseh ShermanWilliam Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
†
- Chris Murney...Elisha Hunt Rhodes
Elisha Hunt Rhodes served in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Rhodes' illustrative diary of his war service was quoted prominently in Ken Burns' PBS documentary The Civil War....
- Charley McDowell...Sam Watkins
Samuel “Sam” Rush Watkins was a noted Confederate soldier during the American Civil War. He is known today for his memoir Company Aytch: Or, a Side Show of the Big Show, often heralded as one of the best primary sources about the common soldier's Civil War experience.Watkins was born on June 26,...
- Horton Foote
Albert Horton Foote, Jr. was an American playwright and screenwriter, perhaps best known for his Academy Award-winning screenplays for the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird and the 1983 film Tender Mercies, and his notable live television dramas during the Golden Age of Television...
...Jefferson DavisJefferson Finis Davis was an American politician who served as President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history, 1861 to 1865, during the American Civil War....
- George Plimpton
George Ames Plimpton was an American journalist, writer, editor, and actor. He is best-remembered for his sports writing and for founding The Paris Review.- Biography :...
...George Templeton StrongGeorge Templeton Strong was an American lawyer and diarist. His 2,250 page diary, discovered in the 1930s, provides a striking personal account of life in the 19th century, especially during the events of the American Civil War...
- Philip Bosco
-Early life:Bosco was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of Margaret Raymond , a policewoman, and Philip Lupo Bosco, a carnival worker. Bosco went to high school at St. Peter's Preparatory School in Jersey City. He attended the Catholic University of Washington, D.C.-Career:Bosco began his...
...Horace GreeleyHorace Greeley was an American editor of a leading newspaper, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, and a politician...
†
- Terry Courier...George B. McClellan
George Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union...
- Jody Powell...Stonewall Jackson
Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and probably the most well-known Confederate commander after General Robert E. Lee. His military career includes the Valley Campaign of 1862 and his service as a corps commander in the Army of Northern...
†
- Studs Terkel
Louis "Studs" Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for The Good War, and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.-Early...
...Benjamin ButlerBenjamin Franklin Butler was an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as governor of Massachusetts....
- Hoyt Axton
Hoyt Wayne Axton was an American country music singer-songwriter, and a film and television actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice. As he matured, some of his songwriting efforts became well...
...Various
- Colleen Dewhurst
Colleen Dewhurst was a Canadian actress known for a while as "the Queen of Off-Broadway." Admired for her casual beauty, wide-armed emotional frankness and a voice as deep as a fog-horn, Dewhurst was a renowned interpreter of the works of Eugene O'Neill onstage, and her career also encompassed...
...Various
- Shelby Foote
Shelby Dade Foote, Jr. was an American novelist and a noted historian of the American Civil War, writing a massive, three-volume history of the war entitled The Civil War: A Narrative...
...Various
- Ronnie Gilbert
Ronnie Gilbert is an American folk-singer, one of the members of The Weavers with Pete Seeger, Lee Hays and Fred Hellerman.-Career:...
...Various
- Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons is an English film, television, and stage actor. He has won the Academy Award, the Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to many other awards and honors....
...Various
- Derek Jacobi
Sir Derek George Jacobi CBE is an English actor and film director. Like Laurence Olivier, he bears the distinction of holding two knighthoods, Danish and British.-Early life:...
...Various
- Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was an American novelist known for works blending satire, black comedy, and science fiction including Slaughterhouse-Five , Cat's Cradle , and Breakfast of Champions...
...Various
- Larry Fishburne...Various
- Pamela Reed
Pamela Reed is an American actress. She is perhaps best known as playing Ruth Powers in various episodes of TV's The Simpsons and playing Arnold Schwarzenegger's hypoglycemic partner in the 1990 movie Kindergarten Cop...
...Various
†Performer voiced other characters as well
Episodes
- Episode 1: The Cause (1861)
- Episode 2: A Very Bloody Affair (1862)
- Episode 3: Forever Free (1862)
- Episode 4: Simply Murder (1863)
- Episode 5: The Universe of Battle (1863)
- Episode 6: Valley of the Shadow of Death (1864)
- Episode 7: Most Hallowed Ground (1864)
- Episode 8: War Is All Hell (1865)
- Episode 9: The Better Angels of Our Nature (1865)
Reception and Awards
The series has been honored with more than 40 major film and television awards, including two Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, Producer of the Year Award from the Producers Guild of America, People's Choice Award, Peabody Award, duPont-Columbia Award, D.W. Griffith Award, and the US$50,000 Lincoln Prize, among dozens of others. The nine episodes explore the Civil War through personal stories and photos. During the creation of the movie Burns filmed thousands of archived photographs. This resulted in the coining of the aforementioned term the “
Ken Burns EffectThe Ken Burns technique is a popular name for a type of pan-and-scan effect used in video production from still imagery. The use of the technique predates Ken Burns' use of it, but his name has become associated with the technique in much the same way as Alfred Hitchcock is associated with the...
”.
External links