Jump to content

Hemingway (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hemingway
Directed byKen Burns
Lynn Novick
Narrated byPeter Coyote
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes3
Production
ProducersLynn Novick
Ken Burns
Running time5 Hours, 42 minutes
Production companiesFlorentine Films
WETA
Original release
ReleaseApril 5 (2021-04-05) –
April 7, 2021 (2021-04-07)

Hemingway is a documentary film on the life of Ernest Hemingway produced by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. It first aired on PBS in April 2021.[1]

Burns documented both the public and private personae of Hemingway from his birth in 1899 to his death in 1961. It focuses on Hemingway's writing, his four marriages, three sons, and Hemingway's peacetime and wartime lifestyle and interests, his alcoholism and character flaws.[2]

The film was narrated by Peter Coyote, with Jeff Daniels acting as the voice of Ernest Hemingway. Other voice actors include Meryl Streep, who voiced Hemingway's third wife, Martha Gellhorn.[3]

Senator John McCain was interviewed for this documentary sometime before his death in 2018. He had often cited Robert Jordan, the protagonist of Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, as his hero.[4]

Episodes

[edit]
  1. "A Writer (1899–1929)"
  2. "The Avatar (1929–1944)"
  3. "The Blank Page (1944–1961)"

Ken Burns and PBS

[edit]

In 2007, Burns had made an agreement with PBS to produce work for the network well into the next decade.[5] According to a 2017 piece in The New Yorker, Burns and his company, Florentine Films, selected topics for documentaries slated for release by 2030.

Reception

[edit]

Stephen Colbert of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert called it "incredibly moving and beautiful".[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ What to Watch on Monday The start of Ken Burns' 'Hemingway' documentary, The News & Observer, Brooke Cain, April 5, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  2. ^ Los Angeles Times review, April 5, 2021
  3. ^ New York Times review, April 2, 2021
  4. ^ "Exclusive: John McCain interviewed in new Ken Burns film on Ernest Hemingway". April 2, 2021.
  5. ^ "Ken Burns | Biography, Documentaries, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  6. ^ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (March 24, 2021). "Ken Burns Unpacks Ernest Hemingway's Facade of Masculinity | Ken Burns navigates the gap between the macho persona and the real inner life of his documentary subject, Ernest Hemingway. Dig deeper into the author's..." Facebook. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
[edit]