"Hemingway" by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick

Last night I watched the first episode of this fine work by the astonishing Ken Burns and his co-producer of recent times, Lynn Novick.

Hemingway

Directed by Ken Burns

Lynn Novick

Narrated by Peter Coyote

How could any documentary serries about this giant of early twentieth century American literature be less than engrossing? I'm hooked on it and must view the other two episodes very soon despite the pressing need to keep up with the Olympics in these grim times.

But the grim times we face are as nothing compared with what Hemingway lived through in WW1, and with what films by Ken Burns and his various teams have documented over the years since I first saw his immense series "The Civil War" (1990).

So I write this piece as a tribute to both Hemingway, great writer, remarkable person, contentious figure... and Ken Burns, magnificent prolific documentarist.

What a contribution Burns has made to my life. Here's a list of his credits from Wikipedia since1981:

• Brooklyn Bridge (1981)^[a]
• The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God (1984)^[a]
• The Statue of Liberty (1985)^[a]
• Huey Long (1985)^[a]
• The Congress (1988)^[a]
• Thomas Hart Benton (1988)^[a]
• The Civil War (1990; 9 episodes)^[a]
• Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (1992)
• Baseball (1994; 9 episodes – updated with The Tenth Inning in 2010, with Lynn Novick)
• Thomas Jefferson (1997)
• Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery (1997)
• Frank Lloyd Wright (1998, with Lynn Novick)^[54]
• Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony (1999)^[55]
• Jazz (2001; 10 episodes)^[56]
• Mark Twain (2001)
• Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip (2003)^[57]
• Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2005)^[58]
• The War (2007, with Lynn Novick; 7 episodes)
• The National Parks: America's Best Idea (2009; 6 episodes)
• Prohibition (2011, with Lynn Novick; 3 episodes)^[59]
• The Dust Bowl (2012; 4 episodes)^[60]
• The Central Park Five (2012, with Sarah Burns and David McMahon)^[61]
• Yosemite: A Gathering of Spirit (2013)^[62]
• The Address (2014)^[63]
• The Roosevelts: An Intimate History (2014; 7 episodes)^[61][64]
• Jackie Robinson (2016, with Sarah Burns and David McMahon; 2 episodes)^[65]
• Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War (2016, with Artemis Joukowsky)^[66]
• The Vietnam War (2017, with Lynn Novick; 10 episodes)^[67]
• The Mayo Clinic: Faith – Hope – Science (2018, with Erik Ewers and Christopher Loren Ewers)
• Country Music (2019, 8 episodes)^[68]
• Hemingway (2021, with Lynn Novick; 3 episodes)^[69]

Of course I have only seen a few of these titles...  

"The Civil War",

 "Jazz", 

"Lewis and Clark",  

"Mark Twain", 

"The Dust Bowl", 

"The Vietnam War", 

and now the first part of "Hemingway".

 

What is consisent in all of these series is the intensity and dedication to detail which Burns and his team bring to each one. I never feel they are skimming or short-changing the viewer by careless research or failing to address difficult issues. They always make a huge effort to be "even handed" rather than coming down on one side against the other in any situation, most notably in "The Vietnam War". What a piece of work, devasting to view, too horrific to contemplate, and yet this team had to live with its horrors for years while producing it.

There are some similarities between how Burns has approached the lives of Hemingway and Mark Twain. Of course each of these giants lived lives which drew reactions from all sides. It's clear that for Burns they are heroes of his despite any criticisms which may be levelled, and are levelled against them. These portraits are 'warts and all', they never gloss over, there's no air-brush technique employed here.

Then there's Hemingway himself. I have not read any of his work since about 1970, but prior to that I read "A Farewell to Arms" and "The Old Man and the Sea". I have also read some short stories and snatches of his other novels, all a long time ago when I read a lot more than I do now... sadly.

I loved his writing. I don't need to add any comments to the huge list of accolades he has received since the very beginning of his literary career. He is a giant of American literature, a master of style. I have many other heroes from those days when I was a serious reader, voracious, alas no longer, very lazy these days.

What is it about this America? What is this nation which is so great and so shabby at the same time? An incredibly divided and conflicted country which can produce the worst atrocities and the greatest writers and an astonishing range of music. Profoundly modern and yet caught up in an historical quagmire of their own making? Reaching for the stars while at the same time destroying the Earth?

All of these are very human anomalies but much more conspicuous than in most other nations. And out of all this mess of contradiction they produce writers like  James Fennimore Cooper, E.A Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Melville, Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, Raymond Chandler, Dash Hammett.... so many others, the list is just too long.

I just cannot keep up with them all. Is it possible that what makes them great is the very great contradiction posed by the extremes they encounter in their nation, just trying to make sense of it all? Just trying to come to terms with it?

Just as many of the documentaries by Ken Burns and his various teams over the years have tried valiantly to come to terms with the enormity of American history and culture. Such a rich tradition of investigation and telling it like it is.

And let's not forget:

Pennybaker/Leacock

The Maysles Brothers

Frederick Wiseman

Errol Morris

Michael Murphy

And so many others whose names I can hardly keep up with.

To end this little rave, I have mentioned to my friend Bill Mousoulis how much I loved a work about Marlon Brando called

"Listen To me Marlon"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listen_to_Me_Marlon

The Village Voice calls it "a masterpiece"^[9] and David Edelstein lists it as "the greatest, most searching documentary of an actor ever put on film."^[10] According to Vanity Fair, it "is a compelling documentary about Marlon Brando compiled entirely from private audio tapes the actor recorded at home, in business meetings, during hypnosis, in therapy, and during press interviews."^[11]

Variety writes Brando's "complexity is limned as well as a documentary possibly could manage... Made with the full cooperation of the Brando estate, the pic is a superbly crafted collage whose soundtrack is as complexly textured as the curation and editing of visual elements."^[12] As Rolling Stone magazine summed it up, "You want Brando Confidential? Fine, you've got it."^[13]

If you have not seen this fine work please consider! It's available via Prime Amazon for those who can keep up with everything.

Over and out!

pt