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Ken Burns has evolved into more than a filmmaker; he represents an institution, a prolific creative force. With each new television endeavor arriving on the small screen, everyone seeks a part of him.

He participated in “more fucking podcasts than I ever thought possible”, he notes, nearing the end of his marathon promotional journey comprising numerous locations, numerous film showings plus countless media sessions. “With podcasts numbering in the hundreds of millions, I feel I’ve participated in a substantial portion.”

Thankfully the filmmaker is incredibly dynamic, equally articulate in interviews as he is prolific during post-production. The veteran director has traveled from Monticello to The Joe Rogan Experience to discuss his latest monumental work: this historical epic, an extensive six-episode, twelve-hour film project that consumed the past decade of his life and debuted this week on PBS.

Defiantly Traditional Approach

Comparable to methodical preparation in today’s rapid-consumption era, The American Revolution intentionally classic, reminiscent of traditional war documentaries than the era of streaming docs and podcast series.

However, for the filmmaker, whose entire filmography chronicling strands of US history spanning various American subjects, its origin story represents more than another topic but fundamental. “I said this to my co-director Sarah Botstein the other day, and she agreed: no future work will carry greater importance,” Burns contemplates during a telephone interview.

Comprehensive Scholarly Work

Burns, co-directors Botstein and David Schmidt plus scripting partner Geoffrey Ward drew upon thousands of books and primary source materials. Multiple academic experts, covering various ideological backgrounds, provided on-air commentary along with leading scholars covering various specialties including slavery, indigenous peoples’ narratives and imperial studies.

Signature Documentary Style

The film’s approach will seem recognizable to viewers of Burns’ earlier work. The unique approach included gradual camera movements over historical images, abundant historical musical selections featuring talent interpreting primary sources.

This period represented the filmmaker cemented his status; decades afterwards, now the doyen of documentaries, he can apparently summon virtually any performer. Participating with Burns at a New York gathering, acclaimed writer Lin-Manuel Miranda commented: “When Ken Burns calls, you say ‘Yes.’”

All-Star Cast

The extended filming period proved beneficial concerning availability. Sessions happened in studios, in relevant places using online technology, a method utilized throughout the health crisis. Burns recounts collaborating with actor Josh Brolin, who found a few free hours while in Georgia to record his lines portraying the founding father before flying off to other professional obligations.

The cast includes Kenneth Branagh, Hugh Dancy, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, Morgan Freeman, Paul Giamatti, diverse creative professionals, household names and rising talent, celebrated film and stage performers, British and American talent, Edward Norton, David Oyelowo, Mandy Patinkin, Wendell Pierce, Matthew Rhys, Liev Schreiber, and many others.

The filmmaker continues: “Honestly, this could represent the finest ensemble gathered for any production. Their work is exceptional. Their celebrity status wasn’t the criteria. It irritated me when questioned, regarding the famous participants. I responded, ‘These are performers.’ They are among the world’s best performers and they animate historical material.”

Historical Complexity

Nevertheless, the lack of surviving participants, visual documentation forced Burns and his team to lean heavily on historical documents, integrating the first-person voices of multiple revolutionary participants. This approach enabled to introduce audiences not just the famous founders of the founders but also to “dozens of others crucial to understanding, many of whom never even had a portrait painted.

Burns additionally pursued his particular enthusiasm for geography and cartography. “I love maps,” he observes, “and there are more maps in this film than in all the other films throughout my entire career.”

Global Significance

The production crew recorded at numerous significant sites in various American regions plus English locations to document environmental context and partnered extensively with re-enactors. These components unite to depict events more bloody, multifaceted and world-changing than the one taught in schools.

The documentary argues, represented more than local dispute about property, revenue and governance. Rather, the series depicts a violent confrontation that ultimately drew in numerous countries and unexpectedly manifested what it calls “humanity’s highest ideals”.

Brother Against Brother

Early dissatisfaction and objections aimed at the crown by American colonists across thirteen rebellious territories rapidly became a bloody domestic struggle, setting brother against brother and creating local enmities. In one segment, academic Alan Taylor comments: “The primary misunderstanding concerning independence struggle involves believing it represented a unifying experience for colonists. It leaves out the reality that it was a civil war among Americans.”

Nuanced Understanding

According to his perspective, the revolutionary narrative that “for most of us suffers from excessive romance and nostalgia and lacks depth and fails to properly acknowledge the historical reality, every individual involved and the incredible violence of it.

The historian argues, an uprising that declared the world-changing idea of the unalienable rights of people; a bloody domestic struggle, pitting Patriots against Loyalists; and a global war, continuing previous patterns of wars between imperial nations for the “prize of North America”.

Unpredictable Historical Moments

The filmmaker also sought {to rediscover the