Civilisation: The Complete Series
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Movie Reviews of Civilisation: The Complete Series
Movie Review: One of the most important documentaries ever made
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the DVDs at the store on the spur of the moment, and having never heard of Kenneth Clark. I have watched the whole thing many times now and have since spent time looking at art in Italy, France, and Spain.
What really impressed me the first few times watching the videos were the slow pace at which the camera showed the art and architecture. The viewer actually gets time to dwell on and think about what is on the screen, instead of, as in more modern documentaries, getting half a second before moving on.
What really impressed me in later viewings was the fact that this would be an important work even if it was just audio. Kenneth Clark's words are more than what one usually finds in a textbook. They are the conclusions he has come to after a lifetime of thinking about art, mankind, and civilization. It is too easy to hear a sentence and pass right over the amazing gems of profundity that it contains. It takes viewing the videos with the mind of a student seeking enlightment to truly understand what is said. Some ignorant reviewers have claimed the series is simplistic. Far from it, it is highly concentrated wisdom. The more one studies art, architecture, and civilization, and the older one gets, the more meaning Clark's words yield.
Movie Review: A Walk Through Art and Time with Kenneth Clark
Summary: 5 Stars
There have been many attempts at a comprehensive history of Western art on film, but none have succeeded as well as this wonderfully opinionated and often-wrongheaded series. The photography remains among the best in the genre, with skillful use of contemporaneous music adding to the charm. What comes through most clearly is Clark's love of his subject, a warmth which covers a multitude of sins. One cannot always agree with his conclusions, and subsequent scholarship has not always borne out his theories, but the series is never less than stimulating, and is an enduring joy to watch.Movie Review: Cornerstone
Summary: 5 Stars
This authoritative documentary is a key source for understanding our past and how it relates to the present.Movie Review: Poor Quality DVD
Summary: 2 Stars
Although the substance of Lord Clark's epic series remains bright, the medium does not. This is a series about great art, yet the BBC made no effort at all to remaster the original for these DVDs, which leaves the viewer with little art to appreciate. The colors are faded out to the point that sometimes it is difficult to see there is color at all; sepia is a dominant color and lush landscapes look barren. Some of the scenes have those old film cracks and scratches. It looks like it was merely duped to DVD from someone's 30 year old VHS tape.
Bad show, BBC!
Movie Review: It's best when it's witty.
Summary: 3 Stars
"Civilisation" is the product of its era and its media, and is the perfect dissemination of BBC upper-middle class entertainment. The self-assured, oftentimes humorous Clark takes us on a televised tour of great works of European art, and through his very subjective analysis sees them as indicative of a great psychological progression of refined thought. He has the enthusiasm of an English schoolboy and it's enjoyable.
This approach works quite well for the first couple of hours of the program, as Clark draws distinctions between decorative/warrior art and more refined pieces which clearly illustrate a degree of specialization and intellectual vigor. I particularly enjoy his take on many sculptural pieces, and how they embody certain elements of the artist's spiritual convictions or a breaking down of previous barriers.
However, as I've continued watching the show I've found myself frequently irritated by Clark's editorial commentary and tendency to gloss over many of the deeper spiritual elements of the work he reviews. This is very much in keeping with his conservative predisposition, but when it comes to subjects that draw upon deeper human emotions I find his perspective insufficient. At such times one has to wonder if Clark's pontifications really offer up much more than a well systematized analysis wholly subjective in nature. Even so, he often has to downshift and double-clutch to keep his narrative rolling along some pretty rocky terrain, such as in episode 3 which skips all around the place and never finds its narrative regarding the late 13th C., unlike, say, the 1st episode: "The Skin of Our Teeth."
And of course, it goes without saying that the series does not begin to live up to its premise of charting the multiplicity of civilizations that humanity has experienced. I oftentimes wonder how he would perceive of courtly Japan for instance, which might be dismissed as "fanciful" and merely "looking inward". I do not think this in any way detracts from the Japanese having forged their own unique identity and very successful civilization. Interestingly enough, Time-Life released an outstanding series of books at the same time of this TV show; "The Great Ages of Man" which includes China, Japan, Ancient Egypt, Byzantium.... and only 2 of 16 volumes deal with the cultures Clark covers here.