The War

Directed by: Ken Burns, Lynn Novick

Written by: Geoffrey C. Ward

Ken Burns, who is known for making comprehensive documentaries about essential elements of American culture, tackles what is perhaps the defining moment in 20th century American history - the United States involvement in World War II.

With only seven episodes (approximately fourteen hours), "The War" is somewhat limited in its scope, considering the vast amount of material available. This is especially true considering how recent the events of this film are to modern times, relatively speaking compared to Burns's previous subjects. To focus the film, and to avert criticism, each episode begins with the epigram "The Second World War was fought in thousands of places, too many for any one accounting. This is the story of four American towns and how their citizens experienced that war."

This film marks a significant departure from the typical Ken Burns style. Usually, he divides his documentaries into a mix of interweaving storylines and character sketches, backed with historical narratiion and dynamic and illustrated maps. Although the narration remains (in the deep voice of Keith David), the use of maps was limited and the storylines and character sketches were conspicuous in their absence. In their place, the film leans heavily on powerful first-person interviews and narratives with those who were actually a part of the war effort. It's hard to criticize such a shift in style - especially given the opportunity Ken Burns could take advantage of to have these people share such incredible stories. But it's also hard not to imagine which character sketches could have been included, considering the vibrant major participants - Eisenhower, Roosevelt, and, of course, Patton.

Another departure from the usual Ken Burns model is that this film does not seek any kind of balance in the narrative. Enough has already been written about the omission of, and later inclusion of, the contributions of African-Americans, Latino-Americans, and Native-Americans to the war effort, so I will not add to that. This lack of balance, though, extends to the fact that only the American side of the story is told. No description of the experiences of the British, French, Russion, or German people is provided. This surprised me, given how much consideration was provided to the Confederates in Burns's prior work "The Civil War." I appreciate the need to limit the scope of the project, but I feel that a little more depth on some of the non-American subjects would have enhanced the overall picture.

All of this criticism aside: This film is perhaps the single most complete description of the American experience at America's defining moment. It's amazing how four moderately sized cities managed to have representatives at nearly every major event in the war, which shows what an all-encompassing event World War II was. Burns managed to effectively balance the experiences of the military servicemen - the battles that typically define a war - and the perhaps equally important experiences of their friends and families back in the city related to the war - the supply rationing, the shift in industrial output, and the emotional strain known as the "home front."

Credit should be given to Burns for not shying away from the well-documented horrors of war. Brutal, graphic, disturbing pictures are shown in full color without any censoring. Some of the interview subjects describe their awful physical and emotional experiences, often in horrific and indelible detail. None of it is shined or candy-coated or softened or twisted into some kind of patriotic message. I will never forget the story of one widow who received the telegram informing her of her husband's death. Although this could have been turned into a message about patriotic sacrifice, Burns instead leaves an eerie silence after describing the widow's "unearthly howl."

Personally, I appreciated the significant amount of time given to the air war of the European theatre, which Burns focused especially on the experiences of B-17 bomber crews. WWII documentaries tend to focus on ground battles because they are easier to document and recreate, but the fact is that the bombing campaign over Germany crippled (if inefficiently) German industry, which directly provided the Allies a critical advantage during the invasion of Europe. (My own personal stake - my grandfather was a B-17 pilot in the Army Air Corps - 8th Air Force, 100th bomb group.)

To conclude: "The War" may be the single best overarching documentary of WWII, a cornerstone of the modern American culture. It is limited in scale to only include the American perspective and involvement in the war, and it is limited in scope to focus on only the involvement of the citizens of four American cities. Despite these necessary limitations, the film manages to include every major campaign and battle in gritty detail. There may be better documentaries about individual aspects of the war, but it is hard to imagine a documentary that better encapsulates the entire American experience known simply as "the War."