6/10
Why the actors/talking heads?
20 October 2007
I was looking forward to watching this documentary with great anticipation, but was surprised & disappointed to see the storytelling element where many historical figures are reenacted/represented by actors. I was looking for cited quotations, a more detailed narrative, historic illustrations, & maps. I instead felt like I was watching a "history-lite" documentary that dwelled too long on the entertainment value of dressed up actors. I guess I'll have to find some books to read, because this documentary felt like too little substance for the length of the documentary. My sense was the "living history" actors took something away from the gravity of the narrative & history. "Liberty! The American Revolution" was produced after Ken Burns' "The Civil War." One would think these documentary filmmakers could have learned something from Burns devices for telling a story when one can't rely much on photography or video. Marginally recommend as a supplement to reading histories of the American Revolutionary War.
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