This 15-hour documentary, which I finished watching today, is an extraordinary achievement in filmmaking and storytelling. I think it's The Iliad for our culture, time and place. Sometimes difficult to watch because it pulls no punches about the brutality of war, emotionally draining, The War tells a gripping personal story about this important moment in history, one that is riveting, complex, human and sometimes as heroic and honorable as it is brutal and sad. Burns focuses on four American towns, the boys who go to war from these towns, and the family and girls who stay behind. This story strategy humanizes the subject matter and removes it from the usual recital of battles won and loss -- everything here matters because it matters to someone, and by extension to us. I'm too drained to say more about it now. For those who want to experience and understand a seminal moment in our history, I give this the highest recommendation.
Series web page.
Column about the series.
Power of Story, Ken Burns on making your own documentary about people and events.
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