Documentary

“Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man.” It’s impossible to talk about the Up series without beginning with this Jesuit maxim. It was 1964, Cassius Clay was the heavyweight champion of boxing, Nikita Khrushchev was ousted from Soviet power, and a still wet-behind-the-ears Michael Apted (later, director of Coal Miner’s Daughter and Gorillas in the Mist, among others) interviewed fourteen 7-year-olds from England for a Granada Television documentary. The premise was simple. The results were anything, but. Take fourteen children from all social backgrounds, visit them at the age of seven, and […]

Ken Burns’ The War comes to an end tonight, and, unfortunately, the episode title — “A World Without War” — does not refer to the literal fact that our world has gone on without conflict. Rather, it references America coming to the exhilarating realization that four long years of living in a war climate — either in actual combat, or making sacrifices on the homefront — are over. After being in a “war” mindset for so long, it might take a little readjustment, but it is certainly a worthwhile and joyous one. Right at the beginning, the episode realizes that […]

Tonight’s episode of The War begins with an incredibly eerie account from Ray Leopold, who explains a conversation he had with a German soldier who had just been captured by his outfit. The German, in perfect, accent-free English, persists in asking Leopold the exact location from which he comes. When Leopold tells him he is from Waterbury, Connecticut, the German turns out to be very familiar with the minute details of the area. Puzzled, Leopold asks how he knows so much. Following the German’s explanation, Leopold says, “my blood ran cold.” The German mentions that he has been trained “for […]