|
|
List Price: $24.98 Price: $11.95 You Save: $13.03 (52%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 9780780636804 Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC ISBN: 0780636805 Label: Pbs Home Video Languages: Manufacturer: Pbs Home Video Number Of Items: 2 Publisher: Pbs Home Video Release Date: January 08, 2002 Running Time: 220 minutes Studio: Pbs Home Video Theatrical Release Date: January 14, 2002 Editorial Review: Amazon.com: Given the legendary life of its subject, it's not surprising that Mark Twain is perhaps the most entertaining documentary Ken Burns has made. The creator of The Civil War and Jazz achieves reverent harmony with the magnificent story of Missouri-born author Samuel Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain), encompassing legend and fact with an exhilarating sense of adventure. Hailed by Hemingway as the originator of American literature, Twain (a nom de plume taken from a riverboat pilot's term for "safe waters") viewed himself as the American. Burns's film backs that claim as it follows Clemens's literary odyssey around the globe, from unrivaled acclaim as a writer to near destitution and the devastating deaths of his wife and three children. As usual, eloquent writers and scholars (including longtime Twain performer Hal Holbrook) provide a wondrous flow of anecdotes and observations, recounting Twain's remarkable humor while acknowledging a darker side that felt anger toward an indifferent god. Like all of Burns's films, Mark Twain is must-see viewing. --Jeff Shannon Description: He was considered, in his time, to be the funniest man on Earth. Mark Twain is the fifth film in Ken Burns's popular American Lives series and features interviews with Hal Holbrook, Arthur Miller and leading Twain scholars. A popular humorist, philosopher and social satirist, Mark Twain was the well-known nom-de-plume of writer Samuel Clemens, the nation's first literary celebrity. One of the most quoted men of his time, he was born in 1835, the year Haley's Comet passed over, and vowed that he would not die until he saw the famous comet. He died in 1910 -- the day after the comet's return. Tracing Twain's rise from his humble birth in Missouri to his prosperous life in Connecticut as the nation's best-selling author, Mark Twain reveals a compelling portrait of the father of American literature. Nearly three years in the making and drawing from 63 hours of material, thousands of archival photographs and nearly 20 interviews with top writers and Twain scholars, Mark Twain is the story of an extraordinary life-one full of rollicking adventure, stupendous success and crushing defeat, hilarious comedy and unbearable tragedy. Told primarily through the words of Twain himself and narrated by Keith David (the voice of Jazz), viewers of all ages will be personally introduced to this compelling yet contradictory genius, who said with some justification, "I am not an American, I am the American." Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Beautifully done biographyThis is a fantastic biographical film about Mark Twain, really Samuel Clemens. It covers everything from his birth to his death. This man, considered to be one of America's greatest humorists, suffered a lot of personal grief - some of it by his own doing. The film is typical of Ken Burn's style; very engrossing, very long, and always worth the time. Rating:  - Ken Burns does his bit for Mark TwainIf you've seen anything by Ken Burns, you know his formula, and you will not see anything different here. But the formula is good, and it works. If you don't care about Mark Twain, this probably won't capture your attention, but if you have read Twain and are a fan of him, as I am, this bio will do a great job of putting Twain's works into the context of a life that was remarkable in so many ways. The thing I most learned from this that I didn't know before had to do with the extent ... Read More Rating: - Mark Twain - A Film Directed by Ken BurnsKen Burns is a great film maker. As a history buff I found this very interesting. Rating: - American Original"I am not an American I am THE American." Ken Burns and Company go about demonstrating, through this brilliant piece of work, why those words of Samuel Clemens ring even truer than ever today. Buy this and be inspired and thought-provoked by Twain's multi-faceted, and facinating life. Rating: - Burns' BestAt least as good as Burns' other, more heralded works, the concision and love with which Twain's life is here presented make this a true masterpiece. If your local library doesn't have it, make them get it; every school and library in the land should have this at the front of their dvd collection. If ever there was doubt as to Twain's status as one of the finest and most quintessentially American of American artists, it is laid to rest here. A stunningly tragic life filled with triumphant ... Read More |
