The Dust Bowl

This "docu-drama" contained more political statements than a French feminist melodrama. OK, I admit I exaggerate but if you want to make a documentary you have to consider all possible angles and not be a servant to your own point of view. This is not a documentary. It is Ken Burns world view about the dust bowl. Don't look for reasonable explanations about the causes and circumstances in which the event occurred. It like one of those zombie movies, you know the ones which starts like, "its the year 2137, there has been a deadly virus attack and only few humans survive and the rest have turned to zombies". You know this is not a real story yet they put enough real circumstances in it for you to be engaged. This is the zombie movie of documentaries.

Ken Burns really doesn't know how to make a bad documentary, but all of his documentaries have acquired the very familiar style that now borders on the repetitive, and thus borderline boring. "The Dust Bowl" reflects this problem. As is always the case with Burns' documentaries, the images are striking, the interviews moving and insightful, and the narrative - usually - is quite gripping. There's a lot to be learned about the Dust Bowl of the 1930s from this film, and it's generally worth the time. The problem with this film is that no documentary should feel like it takes longer to watch than the event itself. Coming in at nearly 4 hours, this is a bit more narrative about the dust bowl than this particular viewer wants to absorb. After so many great works, Burns' editors seem to have shied away from trimming his films to a length and pace more suitable to the topic. The middle portion of this documentary in film in particular drags on incessantly with tales of one dust storm after another until one is compelled to exclaim "enough - I get it! For Ken Burns fans and those really interested in the dust bowl, this is a worthy watch. For those with a more passing interest, I suggest the PBS documentary from the "American Experience" series.

Amazing information...and the interviews you assembled were fantastic. I had heard of this but was completely ignorant as to just how significant it was.

The stories told by the interviewees were both extremely sad and inspiring. I can't believe that families never left. The one fact that still sticks out is that during one dust storm, an extremely bad one, dirt from the Midwest ended up out on the deck of a ship in the Atlantic and in the White House amazing

And thank God you interviewed those people when you did. We need to be taking advantage of our elders and their experiences the way this documentary did.

Oh, yes! - Man and his machines - And would you just look at what thou hast done in the name of progress and agriculture!..... Yes. Thou hast created a state-wide "dust bowl" like never imagined possible.

It sure would've been nice and convenient if man could've guiltlessly shifted the blame for this devastating disaster onto the shoulders of good, old Mother Nature (saying that she was clearly having a very bad hair day that particular decade).... But, no way, Jose. In this case, man couldn't worm his way out of this mess-of-historical-proportions that easy.

Anyways - Even though "The Dust Bowl" was definitely somewhat over-long with its 240-minute running time, it was still quite an interesting documentary that I'm sure many viewers are going to find quite intriguing to watch.

Through vintage, newsreel footage, 100s of stills, and interviews with, not only historians, but with the very people who were actually present to witness this incredible phenomenon, the viewer soon learns just how this man-made disaster of endless dust storms affected the lives of thousands of American citizens during the Depression Years of the 1930s.

Directed by Ken Burns (for PBS), and narrated by Peter Coyote, The Dust Bowl is a fascinating step back in time to an awesome occurrence that we can only hope will never have a chance, ever again, to repeat itself.

Once again, Ken Burns has crafted an excellent, informative documentary. This one is about the Dust Bowl. Interviews, photographs, diary entries and footage are used to paint a picture of the time and place, a time when monstrous behemoths of dust could literally blot out the sun.

Most effective are the interviews. Men and women who were children when dust storms swept the plains tell stories of their experiences. Some of these are very emotional. For example, two brothers choke up at the memory of their sister who died of 'dust pneumonia' when still a young girl. The anguish in their voices is simply heartbreaking. Another man recalls how he became separated from his parents when a dust storm hit and for a while they had no idea if he was dead or alive. All of these stories give one a full appreciation of the devastation wreaked by the event and make it painfully personal and human.

"The Dust Bowl" is a powerful story of human suffering and human endurance. Watching it, I was moved by the plight of people who struggled on against hope in an effort to retain their dignity or survive. It was very educational. I highly recommend seeing it.

(Oh, and to the previous reviewer: Much of this documentary is told through the words of people who actually lived through the Dust Bowl. Quite a bit of the film simply allows these people to speak for themselves without any quick cutting, signs of manipulation, or propagandistic techniques. I saw no signs of any 'agenda' on the part of Burns here.)