Unknown
2009-01-05 18:10:39 UTC
TUNE IN TONIGHT: Six-part series 'Story of India' explores 10,000
years of history
By Kevin McDonough
United Feature Syndicate
Memorable documentary series require at least three elements: a great
story, big ideas and dazzling photography. The six-part history "The
Story of India" (9 p.m. and 10 p.m., PBS, airing on Mondays through
Jan. 19) has all three and much more.
In fact, there is simply too much story and too many ideas from
India's more than 10,000 years of history to cram into six hours. But
give writer, producer and host Michael Wood credit for trying.
The first hour does a good job of helping viewers understand the
extremely ancient origins of Indian culture by tracing elements of
language and faith back nearly 10,000 years to the very dawn of human
civilization.
Subsequent installments cover India's religious traditions, its
embrace of Hinduism and the birth of Buddhism and the many foreign
empires that conquered and occupied the subcontinent, only to depart.
The armies and kingdoms of Alexander, Genghis Khan, Tamburlaine and
even the British Empire have all moved into the past tense, while
India endures and is poised to become a dominant economic superpower
in the 21st century.
I generally don't go for these vast survey history documentaries and
prefer to approach general history through the lens of a particular
subject. But Woods and his collaborators found that while there have
been dozens of film histories of ancient China, Rome and Greece, India
has remained uncovered.
And "The Story of India" does a fine job of introducing its subject in
a thought-provoking manner with stunning images both beautiful and
strange.
http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=119929
--
FN * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org
Blog: http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com
Tech links from South Asia: http://twitter.com/fn
M: +91-9822122436 P: +91-832-2409490
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years of history
By Kevin McDonough
United Feature Syndicate
Memorable documentary series require at least three elements: a great
story, big ideas and dazzling photography. The six-part history "The
Story of India" (9 p.m. and 10 p.m., PBS, airing on Mondays through
Jan. 19) has all three and much more.
In fact, there is simply too much story and too many ideas from
India's more than 10,000 years of history to cram into six hours. But
give writer, producer and host Michael Wood credit for trying.
The first hour does a good job of helping viewers understand the
extremely ancient origins of Indian culture by tracing elements of
language and faith back nearly 10,000 years to the very dawn of human
civilization.
Subsequent installments cover India's religious traditions, its
embrace of Hinduism and the birth of Buddhism and the many foreign
empires that conquered and occupied the subcontinent, only to depart.
The armies and kingdoms of Alexander, Genghis Khan, Tamburlaine and
even the British Empire have all moved into the past tense, while
India endures and is poised to become a dominant economic superpower
in the 21st century.
I generally don't go for these vast survey history documentaries and
prefer to approach general history through the lens of a particular
subject. But Woods and his collaborators found that while there have
been dozens of film histories of ancient China, Rome and Greece, India
has remained uncovered.
And "The Story of India" does a fine job of introducing its subject in
a thought-provoking manner with stunning images both beautiful and
strange.
http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=119929
--
FN * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org
Blog: http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com
Tech links from South Asia: http://twitter.com/fn
M: +91-9822122436 P: +91-832-2409490
------------------------------------
[*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
For news related to documentary film in India: Newsrack.in
http://newsrack.in/Browse.do?owner=fredericknoronha&issue=Documentary&catID=1&start=61
[*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/docuwallahs2/
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