Saturday, November 19, 2016

The Address

A year in the life of severely learning disabled students at the specialized Greenwood School in Putney, Vermont who are required to recite The Gettysburg Address verbatim at the end of the term. I feel like a heel digging into this documentary, and yes the students and staff seem genuine, but this resembles the kind of amateurish pap meant to "inspire" first year college students in a teaching program. As for Ken Burns, while sneaking in Civil War photos and giving a haphazard summation of that campaign, this kind of project seems beneath him. To be fair, the final speeches and a field trip to the battleground were impressive.
** 1/2 out of ****