Episode 2: Reaping the Whirlwind

Masterful
I was fortunate enough to see a preview cut of The Dust Bowl last week in an event hosted by PBS and it's typical Ken Burns. Burns revolutionized the documentary format in 1990 with The Civil War. His style and technique changed the way stories are told now by historians and filmakers around the world through film. So it should come as no surprise that The Dust Bowl is yet another great work by the masterful director. The film documents the Dust Bowl through iconic pictures and film as Burns usually does, but it is told through the eyes of the survivors in a way that makes the experience even more powerful. I would describe the film as The Worst Hard Time comes ALIVE! If you enjoyed the book by Timothy Egan you will no doubt love this film. If you have not read the book by all means do yourself a favor and do so. Egan is a major contributor of course along with other historians as they are used to frame the events of the era, but it is the "survivors" that truly make the film special...

Bluray Review: Great story, Fabulous characters but a bit repetitive
What John Ford attempted (and, in my opinion, succeeded) to do in the 1940 feature film "The Grapes of Wrath" - to put a human face on those farmers and their families who survived the challenges of the deadly dust storms, as well as the Great Depression in the "dust bowl quadrant" during the 1930s - Ken Burns has succeeded with his latest four-hour documentary that aired on PBS in November 2012 and was released by PBS Home Video on Blu-ray with some bonus features. If you've seen Burns' documentaries on the Civil War or World War Two, you will have an idea of what to expect. Actor Peter Coyote is back as narrator and Burns chose specific families whose members are still alive to tell their own stories. When Burns planned the film he took out ads in the four-state area which comprised the "dust bowl" seeking survivors. He received over 70 responses and - through a process of elimination, chose more than two dozen to interview at great length. These were individuals who were children...

Tales of the Black Blizzard
It starts with a few words: "Let me tell you how it was." In the space of four hours, Ken Burns tells you how it was on the great wide plains of America, in the 1930's, in the Dust Bowl.

Ken Burns' real talent is his focus on the average man and woman. Rather than focusing on the famous, the politicians and celebrities (though they do come into play at times), he introduces us to names from history that we never knew. So, in 'The Dust Bowl,' we get the story of the college-trained writer who set up a homestead in no-man's land, finding her husband there. We hear the story of the family with nine children, and the ambition to pass on a square mile of fertile land to each of them. We hear the stories of children born into a world of blowing dust and dirt, of some who survive, and some who didn't make it.

Make no mistake, this is a story of struggle and human endurance stretched to the limit, of hopes raised and then dashed again, year after year. It's a story of...

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