“Writing, at its best, is a lonely life. Organizations for writers palliate the writer's loneliness but I doubt if they improve his writing. He grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work deteriorates. For he does his work alone and if he is a good enough writer he must face eternity, or the lack of it, each day.”
– Ernest Hemingway, in his acceptance speech for the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature
Ken Burns delivers a stellar (and moving) biography of a great American author
Before watching this film, my only experience with Ernest Hemingway was watching the 1996 film “In Love and War,” which dramatizes both his experiences in World War One and his brief romance with Agnes von Kurowsky (played therein by Sandra Bullock). Admittedly, this was a fairly limited acquaintance with the man, and I still haven’t read any of his works. But I knew of his influence, and was willing to try just about any film made by Ken Burns, despite my admitted literary ignorance. I was a great admirer of his earlier film about Mark Twain, despite having a similar ignorance about Mark Twain and his works. Thus, I set out to record my reaction to Ken Burns’ “Hemingway” in this post.
Comments on the filmmakers and the filmmaking style (including the voice actors)
To begin with, this is a biography of Ernest Hemingway. It is not a dramatization of any of his works, although short quotations from some of his works do briefly appear here. This film is six hours long, longer than Ken Burns’ “Mark Twain” film. They use real photographs of the man, and even real footage. They interview several literary scholars, as well as one of Hemingway’s sons – who gives a rather nuanced portrait of his father. And Hemingway’s story is a colorful one, full of adventure, drinking, womanizing, and severe depression. The drama of this story speaks to me, even though I am a bit put off by some of Hemingway’s behavior. Jeff Daniels is the voice of Ernest Hemingway himself, reading quotations from Hemingway – although they use audio recordings of the real Hemingway’s voice, at those rare times when these recordings are actually available. Other cast members include Meryl Streep, with narration by Peter Coyote. Most importantly to me, the film is written by Geoffrey C. Ward, and directed by Ken Burns. These are the men who gave us “The Civil War.” Mr. Ward is an excellent historian, with his own flair for writing. Like his collaborator Ken Burns, he is no stranger to biography, and must have immersed himself in Hemingway’s written works (not to mention other sources) to write the script for this film. It is a well-researched film.
Hemingway in uniform in Milan in 1918, where he drove ambulances for two months until he was wounded
A veteran of World War One, who cheated on all four of his wives
But Hemingway’s life story is not always very uplifting, to put it mildly. He was an ambulance driver in World War One, and was badly wounded on the Italian front. He was also married four times, and cheated on all four of his wives. With the exception of his first wife, all of his relationships with his wives began while he was still married to the woman’s predecessor in the job. He was also an alcoholic, who could drink from ten in the morning until going to sleep at night. Perhaps partially because of this, he struggled with severe depression, which led to his suicide in 1961. (Although, in fairness, he was probably genetically predisposed to depression as well, as I have been.) This film’s portrait of Hemingway is not always flattering, and they show his character flaws in detail. I tend to agree with their assessment of his personality. But he also wrote some great books. They were influenced by his adventurous lifestyle – full of hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities. Hemingway strikes me as a “man’s man,” albeit one who was willing to explore “alternative sexual identities” (to use a modern term). And his way with words was incomparable.
Hemingway’s 1923 passport photo
His economic (and journalistic) writing style has a way of getting to the point
I don’t know that I’d actually want to read any of Ernest Hemingway’s works. I would probably admire the quality of his language more than I would admire the quality of his plots. But his economical (even journalistic) writing style has a way of getting to the point, and removing the literary fluff. One would be hard-pressed to listen to his descriptions of being wounded, or struggling with PTSD, without being moved by them. Hemingway was in several wars in his life, including the Spanish Civil War and World War Two, both of which he was covering as a journalist. His works were influenced by what he saw, and some of these works were made into movies – albeit ones that were somewhat modified from his own stories. He had a fascination with the macabre, manifested in bullfighting stories like “Death in the Afternoon.” I suppose that if Hemingway were alive today, he would be part of the subcultures that are fascinated by skulls and grim attire. He was a proponent of the iceberg theory, which posited that some things are better hinted at than directly described. And he wrote influential books about writing itself, which influenced the development of twentieth-century English writing in a good way.
Hemingway during the Hürtgenwald fighting in World War II – Europe, 1944
Hemingway liked to live abroad, and liked being the “foreigner” wherever he went
But he often lived abroad, and was especially fascinated by Spain. However, he was forced to leave Spain, after it was later conquered by Franco’s militarists in 1939. He instead moved to a home in Cuba, another Spanish-speaking country with a similar culture. But he was forced to leave Cuba as well, when it was taken over by Fidel Castro’s communists in 1959. He enjoyed being the foreigner and expatriate American, in countries where his native English was rarely spoken. I presume that he must have picked up a good command of Spanish, and some of his works show the influence of Hispanic culture. But he remained an English-speaking American wherever he went, publishing literary works in his native English (rather than Spanish). His story is an interesting one, even when they talk about his various flaws. And I learned a lot from this film that I had never known before. Again, my experience with Hemingway was rather limited before I watched this film. Like Hemingway’s works themselves, this film is rather artistic, although not overly so (which is actually good). Choices of soundtrack are exquisitely appropriate, and help to capture both the era and the man. They paint the mood for his tempestuous personal life as well.
Hemingway in the cabin of his boat Pilar, off the coast of Cuba, c. 1950
Comments on Hemingway’s mental illness, and his eventual suicide in 1961
Hemingway was treated multiple times for mental illness – specifically, depression. But the treatments of his time were primitive and inadequate, often involving electroshock therapy. I don’t want to judge the medicine of the time by modern standards, but it seems safe to say that Hemingway would have been better served by more recent medical developments, such as modern psychiatric medication. It’s even possible that such treatments would have saved his life. But again, he died by suicide – a terrible tragedy that wounded many whom he left behind. I don’t want to judge Hemingway for his suicide, since it seems safe to say that his mind was clouded by the severity of his depression. But I would also urge any with suicidal thoughts to seek help for them, and to put off the final decision until medical intervention has been tried in earnest. The footnote to this blog post contains some relevant resources for any with suicidal thoughts, which are much recommended to any who struggle with them.
Ernest Hemingway
Conclusion: This film speaks even to admitted literary ignoramuses like me
Like me, this film also advertises these mental health resources, which is what inspired me to do the same thing in this post. But this is first and foremost a biography of Hemingway, which features only brief analysis of his work. Although it has some somber scenes, I don’t see the whole of the film as “depressing.” Rather, I see it as an enlightening look into a great artistic mind, who was able to produce some magnificent works of literature despite his severe (and ultimately fatal) struggles. No English-language literary writer can afford to ignore him, even if they disagree with his ideas or his style. And this film speaks even to admitted literary ignoramuses like me, who wouldn’t recognize great literature if they were hit over the head with it. This film is that good.
If you are experiencing emotional distress, help is available at 1-800-662-4357 for those in the United States. If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, simply dial 988 into any phone – again, for those in the United States. Both numbers are free and confidential. Analogous numbers can also be found for people in many other countries, and can easily be Googled for the specific country in which you are located. They are a great resource for anyone feeling desperate, and give a sympathetic ear to anyone who’s feeling lost.
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