Ken Burns on His Latest War of Independence Documentary: ‘This Is Our Most Crucial Work’

Ken Burns has become not just a documentarian; he represents an institution, a one-man industrial complex. With each new documentary series arriving on the PBS network, all desire an interview.

The filmmaker completed “more fucking podcasts than I ever thought possible”, he remarks, nearing the end of nine-month promotional tour that included numerous locations, dozens of preview events and innumerable conversations. “With podcasts numbering in the hundreds of millions, I feel I’ve participated in a substantial portion.”

Fortunately the filmmaker is incredibly dynamic, equally articulate in interviews as he is productive while filmmaking. The 72-year-old has appeared at locations ranging from prestigious venues to The Joe Rogan Experience to promote one of his most ambitious projects: The American Revolution, an extensive six-episode, twelve-hour film project that dominated ten years of his career and arrived this week on PBS.

Classic Documentary Style

Comparable to methodical preparation in an age of fast food, The American Revolution intentionally classic, reminiscent of traditional war documentaries than the era of streaming docs audio documentaries.

But for Burns, whose entire filmography chronicling strands of US history covering diverse cultural topics, the nation’s founding represents more than another topic but essential. “I said this to my co-director Sarah Botstein the other day, and she agreed: no future work will carry greater importance,” Burns reflects during a telephone interview.

Massive Research Effort

The filmmaking team along with writer Geoffrey Ward referenced countless written sources and other historical materials. Multiple academic experts, spanning age and perspective, offered expert analysis together with prominent academics representing multiple disciplines such as enslavement studies, Native American history and the British empire.

Distinctive Filmmaking Approach

The documentary’s methodology will seem recognizable to fans of historical documentaries. The unique approach included slow pans and zooms across still photos, generous use of period music and actors voicing historical documents.

Those projects established Burns built his legacy; years later, currently the elder statesman of documentary filmmaking, he seems able to recruit any actor he chooses. Collaborating with the filmmaker at a recent event, renowned playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda noted: “When Ken Burns calls, you say ‘Yes.’”

All-Star Cast

The extended filming period also helped in terms of flexibility. Recordings took place in studios, at historical sites and remotely via Zoom, a tool embraced during the pandemic. Burns explains the experience with performer Josh Brolin, who made time in Atlanta to record his lines as George Washington prior to departing to subsequent commitments.

The cast includes multiple distinguished artists, established Hollywood talent, diverse creative professionals, multiple generations of actors, celebrated film and stage performers, international acting community, skilled dramatic performers, television and film stars, plus additional notable names.

The filmmaker continues: “Frankly, this may be the best single cast recruited for any project. They do an extraordinary service. Their celebrity status wasn’t the criteria. I became frustrated when someone asked, regarding the famous participants. I go, ‘These are actors.’ They represent global acting excellence and they can bring this stuff alive.”

Multifaceted Story

Still, the absence of living witnesses, photography and newsreels required the filmmakers to rely extensively on historical documents, integrating individual perspectives of numerous historical characters. This approach enabled to present viewers beyond the prominent leaders of the founders plus numerous additional crucial to understanding, numerous individuals never even had a portrait painted.

The filmmaker also explored his individual interest for maps and spatial representation. “Maps fascinate me,” he comments, “with greater cartographic content throughout this series versus earlier productions across my complete filmography.”

Global Significance

Filmmakers captured footage at numerous significant sites throughout the continent and in London to capture the landscape’s character and collaborated substantially with historical interpreters. Various aspects converge to tell a story more violent, complex and globally significant versus conventional understanding.

The revolution, it contends, represented more than local dispute concerning territory, taxes and political voice. Rather, the series depicts a violent confrontation that eventually involved numerous countries and surprisingly represented termed “the noble aspirations of humankind”.

Civil War Reality

Early dissatisfaction and objections leveled at London by far-flung British subjects in 13 fractious colonies quickly evolved into a vicious internal war, dividing communities and households and turning communities into battlegrounds. During the second installment, scholar Alan Taylor notes: “The primary misunderstanding regarding the Revolutionary War involves believing it represented a consolidating event for colonists. It leaves out the reality that colonists battled fellow colonists.”

Nuanced Understanding

For him, the revolutionary narrative that “generally is drowning in sentimentality and wistful remembrance and lacks depth and insufficiently honors actual events, every individual involved and the widespread bloodshed.”

The historian argues, a movement that announced the world-changing idea of inherent human rights; a brutal civil war, dividing revolutionaries and royalists; plus an international conflict, continuing previous patterns of wars between imperial nations for dominance in the New World.

Uncertain Historical Outcomes

Burns additionally aimed {to rediscover the