This is the first episodes of Ken Burns' series "The National Parks: America's Best Idea". And, not surprisingly, it talks about the founding of the first parks in America. Despite popular American opinion that Teddy Roosevelt began the national parks program, the roots go all the way back to President Lincoln and the designation of Yosemite as a park in 1864. However, it wasn't exactly a federal park. Though created by Congress, the park was placed under control of the state of California and the integrity of the park against building programs was NOT guaranteed. Much of the first portion of the film is about a guy named Hutchings--who spearheaded making it a park but who also behaved as if it was for him to personally exploit. Folks like John Muir, however, would have a different view of national parks--and eventually this notion would win out and other parks would be established. During the course of this show, the first four national parks were discussed--with particular emphasis on Yosemite and Yellowstone. In addition, the life of John Muir is discussed in some depth. Interestly, while a fascinating man and a guy who worked so hard to preserve park lands, he did come off, at times, as a bit of a nut! See the show and judge for yourself.
Overall, this show is pretty much exactly what we've all learned to expect from a Ken Burns documentary. His extensive use of photographs and paintings, celebrity voices, excellent narration by Peter Coyote and lovely (but repetitive) music all paint a very poetic sort of picture. I see it as a lesser Burns project simply because I think the show is TOO poetic and talky. Instead of folks waxing so lyrical about nature, I'd rather the shows give an overview of the creation of the park system as well as more in depth explorations of all the parks. But, who am I to complain? After all, this IS Ken Burns and he really knows his stuff.
Overall, this show is pretty much exactly what we've all learned to expect from a Ken Burns documentary. His extensive use of photographs and paintings, celebrity voices, excellent narration by Peter Coyote and lovely (but repetitive) music all paint a very poetic sort of picture. I see it as a lesser Burns project simply because I think the show is TOO poetic and talky. Instead of folks waxing so lyrical about nature, I'd rather the shows give an overview of the creation of the park system as well as more in depth explorations of all the parks. But, who am I to complain? After all, this IS Ken Burns and he really knows his stuff.
