The Civil War (TV) (1990)

Director: Ken Burns
Writers: Ken Burns, Geoffrey C. Ward, Ric Burns
Starring: Sam Waterston, Julie Harris, Jason Robards, Morgan Freeman, Paul Roebling, Garrison Keillor

Instead of becoming just another lukewarm history lesson featuring a line-up of talking heads, Burns pulls off complete era immersion. Assembling all available visual evidence, the production builds an approach that's largely reliant on paintings and photographs, offering an authentic look at the conditions of soldiers and battlegrounds during the downward spiral of conflict. While technical limitations are expected, clarity is startling on most of the pictures, identifying weary participants and determined leaders entering the unknown of war. Burns adds contemporary footage of battle sites and buildings to help put the enormity of the conflict in focus, with many locations still displaying decoration and weaponry from the war.

It's a meditative helming job, with Burns using magic hour shots and autumnal vistas to set the mood, breaking up the sprint of history with cinematographic beauty. A few interviewees are invited to the party, including historians Barbara Fields and Ed Bearss (whose theatrical mannerisms and trained voice is truly something to experience), but the star of the show is author Shelby Foote, who's knowledge of the Civil War and Southern charms combine to provide the show with an old friend to return to, adding some needed shots of humor to the proceedings. The production returns to Foote repeatedly, giving him space to tell stories and fill in gaps between large battles, identifying the mood of the men and hesitation of politicians. For marquee value, "The Civil War" brings in a host of celebrities to voice inner-thoughts and read letters, with Morgan Freeman, Garrison Keillor, Julie Harris, and Jason Robards just a few of the cast members bringing life to the written word.

EPISODES
1. "The Cause" (1861)
2. "A Very Bloody Affair" (1862)
3. "Forever Free" (1862)
4. "Simply Murder" (1863)
5. "The Universe of Battle" (1863)
6. "Valley of the Shadow of Death" (1864)
7. "Most Hallowed Ground" (1864)
8. "War Is All Hell" (1865)
9. "The Better Angels of Our Nature" (1865)

"The Civil War" opens the expanse of the conflict for the average viewer, but Burns doesn't play the series as "History for Dummies." Instead of underlining important stops along the way, the production slowly takes in every development, tracking the divide of the nation and the hardening personalities of the military personnel. There's a significant study of leaders and followers, while the passage of time is handled carefully, identifying shifts in power as North and South battled back and forth for four long years. Intimacy is perhaps the most important element of "The Civil War," with Burns and his team burrowing into conflicted headspaces, understanding the complexity of thought that emerged from the average soldier and the leader of the nation, as Abraham Lincoln is revealed to be conflicted president, making critical mistakes along the way. Burns prizes humanity, and honesty is the key to "The Civil War," which does away with the romance of nostalgia to understand exactly what it was like to be in the thick of battle and feel the cruelty of isolation.

Please Note: Playback of these H.265/HEVC encoded video files in VLC media player may cause problem (like Green Screen). A fresh install of the player or a new version can solve this problem. I strongly suggest you to download and install "K-Lite Codec Pack (Full or Mega version; totally free with WMP Classic)" on your system first and then try to play the file in VLC. Or, you can just install PotPlayer, and no codecs will be needed. I use this player for playing all sorts of media… from MP3 audio files to 4K UHD video files.MS-DOCU

Mac users please get help from the Internet and YouTube.MS-WAR