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The Civil War (documentary)
Encyclopedia
The Civil War is a documentary film
created by Ken Burns
about the American Civil War
. It was first broadcast on PBS
on five consecutive nights from Sunday, September 23 to Thursday, September 27, 1990. Forty million viewers watched it during its initial broadcast, making it the most-watched program ever to air on PBS. It was awarded more than 40 major television and film honors. The film was remastered on the twelfth anniversary of its release, and a book following the movie has also been released.
's photographs. More than 10 hours in length, the documentary has nine episodes that explore the Civil War through personal stories and photos. During the creation of the movie, Burns made extensive use of more than 16,000 archival photographs, paintings, and newspaper images from the time of the war. This resulted in the coining of the term the “Ken Burns Effect
.”
He combined these images with contemporary cinematography
, music
, narration by David McCullough
, anecdotes and insights from authors such as Shelby Foote
, historians Barbara J. Fields
, Ed Bearss
, and Stephen B. Oates
; and actors' reading contemporary quotes from historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln
, Mary Chesnut, Robert E. Lee
, Ulysses S. Grant
, Walt Whitman
, Stonewall Jackson
, and Frederick Douglass
. A large cast of actors voiced correspondence, memoirs, news articles, and stood in for historical figures from the Civil War.
The film took five years to produce, longer than the four years it took to fight the Civil War - April 12, 1861, when the Confederacy attacked Fort Sumter, S.C., until April 9, 1865, when General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House.
The film was co-produced by Ken's brother Ric Burns
, written by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ric Burns
, edited by Paul Barnes with cinematography by Buddy Squires.
" and is heard twenty-five times during the film. The song was composed by Jay Ungar
in 1982 and he describes it as "a Scottish lament written by a Jewish guy from the Bronx." It is the only modern piece of music heard in the film. It became so closely associated with the series that people frequently and erroneously believe it was a Civil War song. Ungar, his band Fiddle Fever and pianist Jacqueline Schwab performed this song and many of the other 19th century songs used in the film.
† Performer voiced other characters as well.
Sam Waterston, who voiced Abraham Lincoln here, later played Thomas Jefferson in Burns' films about Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition
.
.
"Ken Burns and I decided to remaster The Civil War for several reasons. First of all when we completed the film in 1989, we were operating under a very tight schedule and budget. As the main editor on the film, I always wanted to go back and improve the overall quality of the film. The other reason for remastering the film at this time is that the technology to color correct, print and transfer a film to video for broadcast has vastly improved, especially in the realm of digital computer technology...
We also were able to eliminate a great deal of the dust and dirt that often get embedded into 16mm film when it is printed."
The remastering was limited to producing an improved fullscreen SD digital video of the source 16mm film, for broadcast and DVD; no widescreen/HD/Bluray versions are available.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
created by Ken Burns
Ken Burns
Kenneth Lauren "Ken" Burns is an American director and producer of documentary films, known for his style of using archival footage and photographs...
about the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. It was first broadcast on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
on five consecutive nights from Sunday, September 23 to Thursday, September 27, 1990. Forty million viewers watched it during its initial broadcast, making it the most-watched program ever to air on PBS. It was awarded more than 40 major television and film honors. The film was remastered on the twelfth anniversary of its release, and a book following the movie has also been released.
Production
Ken Burns was inspired to make this documentary because of Mathew BradyMathew Brady
Mathew B. Brady was one of the most celebrated 19th century American photographers, best known for his portraits of celebrities and his documentation of the American Civil War...
's photographs. More than 10 hours in length, the documentary has nine episodes that explore the Civil War through personal stories and photos. During the creation of the movie, Burns made extensive use of more than 16,000 archival photographs, paintings, and newspaper images from the time of the war. This resulted in the coining of the term the “Ken Burns Effect
Ken Burns Effect
The Ken Burns effect is a popular name for a type of panning and zooming effect used in video production from still imagery.The name derives from extensive use of the technique by American documentarian Ken Burns...
.”
He combined these images with contemporary cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, narration by David McCullough
David McCullough
David Gaub McCullough is an American author, narrator, historian, and lecturer. He is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award....
, anecdotes and insights from authors such as Shelby Foote
Shelby Foote
Shelby Dade Foote, Jr. was an American historian and novelist who wrote The Civil War: A Narrative, a massive, three-volume history of the war. With geographic and cultural roots in the Mississippi Delta, Foote's life and writing paralleled the radical shift from the agrarian planter system of the...
, historians Barbara J. Fields
Barbara J. Fields
Barbara Jeanne Fields is a professor of American history at Columbia University. Her focus is on the history of the American South, 19th century social history, and the transition to capitalism in the United States.-Life:...
, Ed Bearss
Ed Bearss
Edwin Cole Bearss , a United States Marine Corps veteran of World War II, is a military historian and author known for his work on the American Civil War and World War II eras and is a popular tour guide of historic battlefields...
, and Stephen B. Oates
Stephen B. Oates
Stephen B. Oates is a former professor of history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is an expert in 19th-century United States history....
; and actors' reading contemporary quotes from historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, Mary Chesnut, Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
, Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
, Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
, Stonewall Jackson
Stonewall Jackson
ຄຽשת״ׇׂׂׂׂ֣|birth_place= Clarksburg, Virginia |death_place=Guinea Station, Virginia|placeofburial=Stonewall Jackson Memorial CemeteryLexington, Virginia|placeofburial_label= Place of burial|image=...
, and Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...
. A large cast of actors voiced correspondence, memoirs, news articles, and stood in for historical figures from the Civil War.
The film took five years to produce, longer than the four years it took to fight the Civil War - April 12, 1861, when the Confederacy attacked Fort Sumter, S.C., until April 9, 1865, when General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House.
The film was co-produced by Ken's brother Ric Burns
Ric Burns
Ric Burns is an American documentary filmmaker and writer. He has written, directed and produced historical documentaries for nearly 20 years, beginning with his collaboration on the celebrated PBS series The Civil War , which he produced with his older brother Ken Burns and wrote with Geoffrey C...
, written by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ric Burns
Ric Burns
Ric Burns is an American documentary filmmaker and writer. He has written, directed and produced historical documentaries for nearly 20 years, beginning with his collaboration on the celebrated PBS series The Civil War , which he produced with his older brother Ken Burns and wrote with Geoffrey C...
, edited by Paul Barnes with cinematography by Buddy Squires.
Music
The theme song of the documentary is "Ashokan FarewellAshokan Farewell
"Ashokan Farewell" is a piece of music composed by Jay Ungar in 1982. It has served as a goodnight or farewell waltz at the annual Ashokan Fiddle & Dance Camps, run by the composer and his wife, at the lakefront campus of the State University of New York at New Paltz...
" and is heard twenty-five times during the film. The song was composed by Jay Ungar
Jay Ungar
Jay Ungar is an American folk musician and composer. -Biography:Ungar was born in the Bronx , the son of immigrant Jewish parents from Eastern Europe. He frequented Greenwich Village music venues during his formative period in the 1960s...
in 1982 and he describes it as "a Scottish lament written by a Jewish guy from the Bronx." It is the only modern piece of music heard in the film. It became so closely associated with the series that people frequently and erroneously believe it was a Civil War song. Ungar, his band Fiddle Fever and pianist Jacqueline Schwab performed this song and many of the other 19th century songs used in the film.
Voices
- Sam WaterstonSam WaterstonSamuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston is an American actor and occasional producer and director. Among other roles, he is noted for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in 1984's The Killing Fields, and his Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning portrayal of Jack McCoy...
as Abraham LincolnAbraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and... - David McCulloughDavid McCulloughDavid Gaub McCullough is an American author, narrator, historian, and lecturer. He is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award....
as Narrator - Julie HarrisJulie HarrisJulia Ann "Julie" Harris is an American stage, screen, and television actress. She has won five Tony Awards, three Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award, and was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1994, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts. She is a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame...
as Mary Chesnut - Jason RobardsJason RobardsJason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
as Ulysses S. GrantUlysses S. GrantUlysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America... - Morgan FreemanMorgan FreemanMorgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
as Frederick DouglassFrederick DouglassFrederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...
† - Paul Roebling as Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
- Garrison KeillorGarrison KeillorGary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality. He is known as host of the Minnesota Public Radio show A Prairie Home Companion Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (born August 7, 1942) is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio...
as Walt WhitmanWalt WhitmanWalter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
† - George Black as Robert E. LeeRobert E. LeeRobert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
- Arthur MillerArthur MillerArthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
as William Tecumseh ShermanWilliam Tecumseh ShermanWilliam Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
† - Chris Murney as Elisha Hunt RhodesElisha Hunt RhodesElisha Hunt Rhodes served in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Rhodes' illustrative diary of his war service was quoted prominently in Ken Burns' PBS documentary The Civil War....
- Charley McDowellCharles McDowell, Jr. (journalist)Charles "Charley" McDowell, Jr. was a long-time political writer and nationally syndicated columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch and panelist on PBS-TV's Washington Week in Review. McDowell appeared in an interview in Ken Burns' documentary The Congress; provided the character voice for Sam R...
as Sam WatkinsSam WatkinsSamuel “Sam” Rush Watkins was a noted Confederate soldier during the American Civil War. He is known today for his memoir Company Aytch: Or, a Side Show of the Big Show, often heralded as one of the best primary sources about the common soldier's Civil War experience.Watkins was born on June 26,... - Horton FooteHorton FooteAlbert Horton Foote, Jr. was an American playwright and screenwriter, perhaps best known for his Academy Award-winning screenplays for the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird and the 1983 film Tender Mercies, and his notable live television dramas during the Golden Age of Television...
as Jefferson DavisJefferson DavisJefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis... - George PlimptonGeorge PlimptonGeorge Ames Plimpton was an American journalist, writer, editor, and actor. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review.-Early life:...
as George Templeton StrongGeorge Templeton StrongGeorge Templeton Strong was an American lawyer and diarist. His 2,250-page diary, discovered in the 1930s, provides a striking personal account of life in the 19th century, especially during the events of the American Civil War... - Philip BoscoPhilip Bosco-Personal life:Bosco was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of Margaret Raymond , a policewoman, and Philip Lupo Bosco, a carnival worker. Bosco went to high school at St. Peter's Preparatory School in Jersey City. He attended the Catholic University of Washington, D.C. Bosco married Nancy...
as Horace GreeleyHorace GreeleyHorace Greeley was an American newspaper editor, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, a politician, and an outspoken opponent of slavery...
† - Terry Courier as George B. McClellanGeorge B. McClellanGeorge Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union...
- Jody Powell as Stonewall JacksonStonewall Jacksonຄຽשת״ׇׂׂׂׂ֣|birth_place= Clarksburg, Virginia |death_place=Guinea Station, Virginia|placeofburial=Stonewall Jackson Memorial CemeteryLexington, Virginia|placeofburial_label= Place of burial|image=...
† - Studs TerkelStuds TerkelLouis "Studs" Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for The Good War, and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.-Early...
as Benjamin ButlerBenjamin Franklin Butler (politician)Benjamin Franklin Butler was an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts....
† - Hoyt AxtonHoyt AxtonHoyt Wayne Axton was an American country music singer-songwriter, and a film and television actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice. As he matured, some of his songwriting efforts became well...
as various - Colleen DewhurstColleen DewhurstColleen Rose Dewhurst was a Canadian-American actress known for a while as "the Queen of Off-Broadway." In her autobiography, Dewhurst wrote: "I had moved so quickly from one Off-Broadway production to the next that I was known, at one point, as the 'Queen of Off-Broadway'...
as various - Shelby FooteShelby FooteShelby Dade Foote, Jr. was an American historian and novelist who wrote The Civil War: A Narrative, a massive, three-volume history of the war. With geographic and cultural roots in the Mississippi Delta, Foote's life and writing paralleled the radical shift from the agrarian planter system of the...
as various - Ronnie GilbertRonnie GilbertRonnie Gilbert is an American folk-singer. She is one of the original members of the Weavers with Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, and Fred Hellerman.-Career:...
as various - Jeremy IronsJeremy IronsJeremy John Irons is an English actor. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since appeared in many London theatre productions including The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the...
as various - Derek JacobiDerek JacobiSir Derek George Jacobi, CBE is an English actor and film director.A "forceful, commanding stage presence", Jacobi has enjoyed a highly successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King. He received a Tony Award for his performance in...
as various - Kurt VonnegutKurt VonnegutKurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
as various - Larry Fishburne as various
- Pamela ReedPamela ReedPamela Reed is an American actress. She is known for playing Ruth Powers in various episodes of TV's The Simpsons, as Arnold Schwarzenegger's hypoglycemic partner in the 1990 movie Kindergarten Cop and as the matriarch Gail Green in Jericho...
as various - M. Emmet WalshM. Emmet WalshMichael Emmet Walsh is an American actor who has appeared in over 100 film and television productions.-Life and career:Walsh was born in Ogdensburg, New York, the son of Agnes Kathrine and Harry Maurice Walsh, Sr., a customs agent...
as various
† Performer voiced other characters as well.
Sam Waterston, who voiced Abraham Lincoln here, later played Thomas Jefferson in Burns' films about Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
.
Episodes
Each episode was divided into numerous chapters or vignettesVignette (literature)
In theatrical script writing, sketch stories, and poetry, a vignette is a short impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment or gives a trenchant impression about a character, an idea, or a setting and sometimes an object...
.
| # | Episode |
|---|
Reception and awards
The series has received more than 40 major film and television awards, including two Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, Producer of the Year Award from the Producers Guild of America, People's Choice Award, Peabody Award, duPont-Columbia Award, D.W. Griffith Award, and the US$50,000 Lincoln Prize, among dozens of others.2002 remastering
The entire series was digitally remastered in 2002. The soundtrack was also remixed. Paul Barnes, Editor & Post-Production Supervisor, Florentine Films at that time commented:"Ken Burns and I decided to remaster The Civil War for several reasons. First of all when we completed the film in 1989, we were operating under a very tight schedule and budget. As the main editor on the film, I always wanted to go back and improve the overall quality of the film. The other reason for remastering the film at this time is that the technology to color correct, print and transfer a film to video for broadcast has vastly improved, especially in the realm of digital computer technology...
We also were able to eliminate a great deal of the dust and dirt that often get embedded into 16mm film when it is printed."
The remastering was limited to producing an improved fullscreen SD digital video of the source 16mm film, for broadcast and DVD; no widescreen/HD/Bluray versions are available.