The Shakers

Rating:
Summary: Excellent documentary that left me wanting more
Review: Ken Burns brings his inimitable style and "emotional archaeology" to one of the most fascinating and least understood religious sect in American history.

I love the images and the sweeping scope of the narration. But that is where I have to fault the film -- I don't think it goes deep enough. Some of the most engaging images and topics are treated with only a cursory touch. I wanted to hear and learn much more.

Unlike Burns' later work, this film actually felt a bit rushed in places.

As a primer on the Shakers, this film is virtually peerless, but I'm afraid it had me asking more questions than it answered. Still and all, it is beautiful and compelling.
****1/2

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Documentary
Review: This Shakers documentary is well done - although not long enough or detailed as I had hoped. Even so, the information presented is more than sufficient to give the viewer an understanding of the who the Shakers are and were. As a religious sect a little more than two hundred years old and dying like the Puritans and other religious experiments, there really is not much to tell about the Shakers. Hence brevity is appropriate - since added minor details might detract from the documentary.

As a person who tries to understand the origin of art, music, song, poetry, and literature I was curious about the Shakers because of Aaron Copland's piece in Applachian Spring. The music reflected a simpler time and slower pace than the technological rat race Americans know today. This film shows Shakers had the right idea of an elementary communal life style uncomplicated by unneeded private possessions. It is interesting to note that the subtitle "Hands To Work, Hearts To God" is exactly what is expressed by Catholic monks like the Benedictines and Cistercians whose theme of "Work and Prayer" is the foundation of their monasteries.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but what about the Socialisim references?
Review: This video was helpful in my studies of the Communial Communities that sprung up around the US in the advent of our country. However, I was unhappy that the director omitted the fact that these communities depict early socialist ideals. It is important in the understanding of where American Socialist movements began or where their inspiration may have come from. I recommend this movie if you are looking for religous movement info or insight on the first religous "Great Awakenning" that took place in the US.