Sparks Commentary: A review of Ken Burns’ “The War” (World War Two series)

"The German Government, consequently, discontinues diplomatic relations with the United States of America and declares that under these circumstances brought about by President Roosevelt Germany too, as from today, considers herself as being in a state of war with the United States of America."

- German Declaration of War with the United States (11 December 1941), four days after Pearl Harbor

With a great subject and the superb direction of Ken Burns, you'd think PBS's "The War" would be one of my favorite documentaries. I'm a big fan of several Ken Burns films (especially "The Civil War"), and I have loved many documentaries about World War II (especially "The World at War"). And it is true that I like this documentary; but it isn't one of my favorites. The focus that it chooses is both a strength and a weakness; and for someone like me, it's mainly a weakness.

Limiting the story to Americans has its weaknesses at times ...

What is the focus that I talk about? Mainly, it's the fact that World War II is told through the eyes of four American towns. It's a brilliant depiction of life in these four places; and in a broader sense, life in wartime America generally. Yet it is also the weakness of this documentary - limited in its geographic area, they have fewer interviewees to choose from; and not all of them are equally interesting. More importantly, the documentary focuses entirely on America; and shies away from depicting anything outside of it - whether that be from our allies (mainly the British Commonwealth and the Soviet Union), or from our enemies (mainly Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan). It would be as if he did "The Civil War" from only the point of view of the North. Yes, that point of view is important (and ultimately the right one); but the war is not understood from an exclusive focus on either side. You have to depict both sides to get a true understanding of the war.

Japanese army enters Nanking, 1937

... especially in talking about how the war started ...

They do talk briefly about events outside the American experience; but only as seen by the Americans in newsreels, and only very briefly. Stalingrad is mentioned in about thirty seconds, and the whole history of the prewar buildup is as described by American reminiscence; with brief descriptions of Hitler's rise to power, the crimes against Jews, and the lesser-known Japanese crimes in Nanking and Greater China. American reminiscences about these things are a valuable subject; but one doesn't understand why the war happened when you don't talk more about the events themselves, and interview eyewitnesses to them. Why did Hitler come to power? Why did the Holocaust happen? Why did the Japanese invade China - and later, attack Pearl Harbor? These questions are left unanswered (or at least answered insufficiently), and the documentary thus fails to address some important issues about this period.

Starving prisoners at Mauthausen 1945, shortly after its liberation by the Americans

... and how the Holocaust happened in Europe

One example of this is in the way that the documentary addresses the Holocaust. They show it through the eyes of American soldiers who liberated concentration camps. It's important to get them on the record about these things, as they give testimony about the truth of the Holocaust that needs to be heard today. But there are no interviews with the inmates of the camps, and so we are left only with the testimony of those who arrived on the crime scene long after the fact. Their cameras record the painful truth of what happened, but how and why it happened is left unanswered (or at least answered too briefly). Thus, their account of this episode is somewhat incomplete. In fairness, it's not meant to be complete, and it's not sold as such. But this incompleteness is nonetheless the series' great weakness.

D-Day invasion at Omaha Beach - Normandy, France (1944)

No interviews with generals, admirals, or government officials (just veterans)

Another disadvantage of this approach is that they do not interview any of the higher-ups, such as generals, admirals, and government officials. I'm not saying interviews with the regular people are unworthy by any stretch of the imagination - we owe a great debt of gratitude to these guys, and their story needs to be told before it's too late. But to really understand the war, we need to understand the big-picture stuff as well; and for this, interviews with the higher-ups are needed. In fairness to Ken Burns, most of the higher-ups were already dead when he made this; so he was unable to interview the range of people that "The World at War" had earlier been able to cover. The great British documentary about World War II remains the definitive film on the subject, as it interviews both regular people and higher-ups, both the winners and losers, and the witnesses to important foreign events like the Holocaust and the rise of Nazism.

Battle of Midway, 1942

Comments on how well this film actually covers the American perspective (mostly well)

Even battles about America are sometimes better told in "The World at War," as participants in these battles are not always to be found in the four specific towns that Ken Burns focuses on here. Midway, for example, was vital to the American war in the Pacific; as it was the turning point of the naval war there. But Ken Burns had to depict this battle in painful brevity; because no one that he interviewed in Sacramento, Luverne, Waterbury, or Mobile was present there - the American participants were from other cities. Thus, even some important events for the U.S. must sometimes be ignored under his approach. Although, in fairness, Ken Burns does give some good coverage of America's dangerous daylight bombing of cities controlled by Germany. Another criticism is that this series omits the American submarine campaign against Japan. The Germans had tried to starve Britain with U-boats in the Atlantic, but had failed to do so. By contrast, the Americans succeeded in their own submarine campaign against Japan, which had a devastating effect upon the Japanese war production. In fairness, though, even "The World at War" omitted this particular aspect of the Pacific War. Moreover, Ken Burns actually goes into more detail on a number of aspects of the Pacific War. "The World at War" is more focused on our common war against Nazi Germany, and so is somewhat weaker on the Asia-Pacific theater. And Ken Burns is good at covering Japanese American internment, which he covers in some detail here.

Torpedoed Japanese destroyer photographed through the periscope of an American submarine, 1942

An anecdote about the unexpected European reaction to this series

Ken Burns was probably the best person to make "The Civil War"; because even with his focus on America, he could still cover both sides of the war, and discuss military strategy and political events. And in fairness to Ken Burns, there is much value in his own story about watching "The War" with some Europeans. He worried that this admittedly America-centric series would offend these Europeans whose experiences were omitted. But when it was over, they said: "We should do something like this with our guys" (or something to that effect). It's a high complement, and there's much truth in it. And the interviews with veterans are extremely well-done.

American soldiers in the Battle of the Bulge - Luxembourg, 1945

This film still has some merit when watched in combination with other films

This Ken Burns film has much merit; but if you want a broader understanding of World War II, you'd be better off with "The World at War." This still remains the definitive film on the subject; although in fairness, Ken Burns may actually give the definitive coverage of the American perspective despite these weaknesses. To me, this film might be better compared with series like "ANZAC" or "Canada at War" (which give the war's Australian and Canadian perspectives, respectively). Nonetheless, other films should be watched along with PBS's coverage, to get a more complete view of what happened.

"♪ All that we’ve been given by those who came before,
The dream of a nation where freedom would endure.
The work and prayers of centuries have brought us to this day.
What shall be our legacy, what will our children say? ♪

"♪ Let them say of me, I was one who believed in sharing the blessings I received.
Let me know in my heart when my days are through,
America, America, I gave my best to you.
America, America, I gave my best to you. ♪"

- "American Anthem," words and music by Gene Scheer

DVD at Amazon

Related Hollywood movies:

"Twelve O'Clock High" (1949 movie)

"Sands of Iwo Jima" (1949 movie)

"Go for Broke!" (1951 movie)

"Operation Pacific" (1951 movie)

"The Enemy Below" (1957 movie)

"The Longest Day" (1962 movie)

"Battle of the Bulge" (1965 movie)

"Tora! Tora! Tora!" (1970 movie)

"Midway" (1976 movie)

"The Tuskegee Airmen" (1995 movie)

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