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Fighting through it: Ken Burns' The War makes peace

11/07/07 19:48

By ED BARK

BEVERLY HILLS -- He's apparently dodged a bullet.

Ken Burns' The War will grow by about a half-hour to appease critics who
objected to its virtual exclusion of Hispanic veterans. Public television's
franchise filmmaker met with TV writers Wednesday to both tout the
seven-part documentary and explain what's being added to it.

"We've done more than we were asked or expected to," he said of extra
footage that will run during the closing credits of episodes one, five and
six. It mainly consists of interviews with two Hispanic World War II
survivors and one Native American.

"It's as far as we can go," he told a packed hotel ballroom during the PBS
portion of summertime's annual TV "press tour." "There are a lot of
different people with a lot of different agendas . . . We listened as hard
as we could."

The War ostensibly was completed a year-and-half ago, with Burns showing
the roughly 15-hour "documentary epic" in its entirety at the recent Cannes
Film Festival. But various Hispanic groups and leaders got word that they
largely were being left out. PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger said she
then left it up to Burns to react in whatever way he chose.

"I have stood by Ken and the story that he wants to bring to the American
public," she said earlier Wednesday. "When we first heard from some
organizations, I told them that the film was completed, because at the time
he had pretty much put the film to bed. But when he made the decision that
he wanted to add material, we continued to stand by him."

Burns, 53, has been public television's Steven Spielberg ever since The
Civil War wowed the masses in fall 1990. The War is scheduled to premiere
on Sept. 23rd, 17 years to the day that Civil War opened to uniform
critical acclaim.

"We didn't want to do another film on war after The Civil War because it
hurt so much," Burns said after the formal session. An estimated 60 million
people gave their lives during WWII. One of them wasn't Quentin Aanenson of
Luverne, Minn., who flew 75 combat missions over Europe. He joined Burns on
a hotel ballroom stage to talk about some of his experiences.

"Once you get down into the intensity of what war is really like, just by
the nature of it, it is anti-war," Aanenson said of Burns' unsparing
depiction of combat and carnage. But WWII was a "necessary war," as the
film also states. And Aanenson has never wavered from that view, despite
the nightmares he still has.

"A lot of mistakes were made," he said. "But the end result did more for
this country than anything I can think of in our history."

Luverne is one of four towns through which WWII is relived. Also included
are Mobile, Ala., Sacramento, Calif. and Waterbury, Conn.

Veterans of "the worst war ever" mostly had kept it to themselves until Tom
Brokaw's The Greatest Generation books enticed many to talk. The first was
published in 1998, with Aanenson eventually opening up. But why silent for
so long?

"I think it was probably the degree of stress and trauma and what those
days were like," Aanenson said. "So I think we just learned to draw it
inside ourselves and deal with it that way. And that is not necessarily the
best way."

Brokaw's books weren't the impetus for The War, said Burns, who began
working on it six-and-a-half years ago.

"A lot of people began speaking to us, and telling their stories in part
because 9/11 sort of opened up stuff," Burns said. "But Brokaw had done
that a few years before. He had taken this unusually reticent generation
and kind of gave it permission to speak, and they did. I think we've all
been beneficiaries of that."

"The gift he made to all of us was he gave us a title," Aanenson said. "
'The Greatest Generation.' True or untrue, I can't say."

Also of note is The War's soundtrack, which includes both period pieces and
Norah Jones' heartfelt performance of the contemporary "American Anthem."

Its main refrain -- "America, America, I gave my best to you" -- still cuts
straight to the heart.