I'm a big fan of Ric Burns, whose documentaries I sometimes find even more emotional and powerful than those of his better known (and also wildly talented) brother Ken.
This re-examination of the story of the Pilgrims who came to the New World on the Mayflower, and the ways with which the myths -- sometimes self-created myths, sometimes those that arose over time -- differ from reality was always interesting. I also found it gratifyingly complex in its examinations of the nature of origin stories we tell ourselves as human beings and as a nation. And lastly it was chock full of facts I didn't know. But I didn't find the kind of emotional power of some of Burns' other films; "Death and the Civil War", "Into the Deep", "Eugene O'Neill", "New York" etc.
None-the-less, I was never bored, and by the end I understood a lot more about this important - in event and symbolic meaning - piece of American history than I did before seeing the film, and that's enough for me to feel it was more than worthwhile.
This re-examination of the story of the Pilgrims who came to the New World on the Mayflower, and the ways with which the myths -- sometimes self-created myths, sometimes those that arose over time -- differ from reality was always interesting. I also found it gratifyingly complex in its examinations of the nature of origin stories we tell ourselves as human beings and as a nation. And lastly it was chock full of facts I didn't know. But I didn't find the kind of emotional power of some of Burns' other films; "Death and the Civil War", "Into the Deep", "Eugene O'Neill", "New York" etc.
None-the-less, I was never bored, and by the end I understood a lot more about this important - in event and symbolic meaning - piece of American history than I did before seeing the film, and that's enough for me to feel it was more than worthwhile.
