‘The Roosevelts’: New Ken Burns Epic Documentary About An American Dynasty

Ken Burns certainly doesn’t shy away from intimidating projects.

From the Civil War, to World War II, to baseball, to prohibition to the history of America’s national parks, Ken Burns goes after subjects that most other documentary filmmakers would find too expansive and daunting. It’s a tendency that has made Ken Burns the preeminent documentary filmmaker in America, and one of the most important American historians in the modern era.

So is the case with his latest opus, The Roosevelts.

In the past, Ken Burns has created in-depth studies of topics. This is the first time he is exclusively looking at personalities, Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in particular. The three of them shaped a dynasty that in turn shaped America through a pivotal century, and laid the foundation for what we’ve done as a nation ever since.

Ken Burns told the L.A. Times why he decided to focus on the Roosevelts.

“There’s something about three extraordinary people who made a mark like this, and something about treating them as a single family story, with all their failings, without making them heroes at a remove.”

Burns’ documentary is fourteen hours long. The Roosevelts will air over seven nights on PBS starting tonight. The story of the Roosevelts covers a century’s worth of the family’s influence, starting with Theodore’s birth in 1858 to Eleanor’s death in 1962. It covers how this one family consisting of two presidents and one first lady created social programs, overhauled economies and fought complex wars – even in the midst of their extremely personal struggles.

Comprehensive and thorough are the two words that have been most used to describe Ken Burns’ project, which is officially titled, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History. Ken uses his trademark deluge of photographs and some video, accompanied by the voices of Meryl Streep as Eleanor, Edward Herrmann as Franklin and Paul Giamatti as Theodore. Presidential historians Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jon Meacham and George Wil offer insights into the legendary family, how they reacted to events in America, how they reacted to events in the world, and how they reacted to each other.

At recent press event in Seattle, Ken Burns answered the question of how the Roosevelts might deal with today’s political climate, according to the Seattle Times.

“I don’t think Theodore Roosevelt or Franklin Roosevelt could get out of the Ohio caucuses in modern day. TR is too hot for the cool medium of television. He would have had ten Howard Dean moments a day. [Franklin’s appearance in a wheelchair would suggest to voters] that he couldn’t possibly lead us through any kind of crisis like the Great Depression or World War II.”

As to Eleanor’s chances of survival in the modern political world?

“Too unattractive by today’s standards.”

Ken Burns has given us detailed and intimate examinations of some of the most monumental events in American history in his past documentaries. Starting tonight, he’ll give us a detailed and intimate examination of the some of the most monumental Americans.

images via Archive and The Huffington Post