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Comment by 2OEH8eoCRo0 | Hacker News Reader

The World at War - BBC documentary series about WWII. Shows humanity simultaneously at it's best and worst.

The Vietnam War - Ken Burns documentary series. Very balanced and sobering take on the Vietnam war, events leading to the Vietnam war, and unrest in the US during that period.

The Fog of War - Errol Morris doc about Robert McNamara.

The Salt of the Earth - Doc about photographer Sebastião Salgado

Alone in the Wilderness - Dick Proenneke films himself building and living in a remote cabin in Alaska

Also can't go wrong with Adam Curtis.

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Any of Ken Burns' documentaries are good, The Civil War and Vietnam being two of the best. Even his take on Prohibition and Baseball are very watchable.

I loved the Civil War, and I think the quality of Vietnam was great too, but it made me so angry I had to stop watching it. I am not of an age where I was in danger of going, but I had siblings that were. They luckily did not go.

I liked his Jazz one too.

> I loved the Civil War, and I think the quality of Vietnam was great too, but it made me so angry I had to stop watching it.

I'm just curious - what particularly made you angry about it?

My father served in the military, but was posted as a medical orderly to West Germany rather than Vietnam at the time, this was in the early 70's. He tended to some of the wounded guys getting repatriated after getting physical therapy, and said the experience had destroyed far more lives than just KIAs on the battlefield.

> what particularly made you angry about it

There were lots of things all pointing to essentially the same issue; the fact "we" (I'm American) _KNEW_ that it was almost certainly unwinnable and kept it going despite all the facts and just kept throwing young people at the problem.

And partially because it was my country doing it. The lack of transparency and outright lying. It's something I need to just get over I guess; it's what gov'ts do.

I'm really surprised Ken Burns isn't higher in this thread.

Basically anything he made is a gem (though Civil War could use a slight correction these days, mainly because all the work done on the consequences - "Reconstruction" by PBS would probably be a good complement).

Just finished Dick Proenneke’s books, which the movie was based on. Such a great read that sounds boring - reading a guy’s journal as he lived alone in Alaska for nearly 30 years - but it felt like a warm blanket each time I’d dip into the books.

Want to note that he didn’t like the documentary. He felt it was too staged and inauthentic and didn’t use his voice as the voiceover. He mentioned that he wouldn’t do it again if asked.

In a similar vein to Dick Proenneke's book, have a read of "An Island to Oneself" by Tom Neale. It's about a guy who lived alone on a remote island in the Pacific. Incredibly calm and peaceful book about living a life completely removed from the endless complications of modern life. It's out of print but pretty sure you can download it as an ebook.

Sorry to nitpick but The World at War is Thames Television. I think they became ITV.

I also used to think it was BBC because of the quality and dignity of the production, I wouldn't be surprised to hear some people claim this is an example of the Mandela effect.

Yes it was originally made by Thames Television. Now only available on DVD as far as I can tell.

They can be found on DailyMotion.

https://www.dailymotion.com/brutalcombat/videos

You are correct.

Love seeing Dick Proenneke mentioned here. My grandpa (also named Dick) built a hunting cabin with Proenneke on the adjacent lot.

Both structures are still there at Twin Lakes, and are operated by Alaska State Parks now.

We have some cool photos and stories from that time.

Similar to "Alone in the Wilderness" I recommend a recent doco series "The Last Alaskans". Unlike most recent reality/doco style shows it's not the usual melodramatic, exaggerated rubbish. The characters speak for themselves and its allowed to "breathe". The TV series is inspired by the book "The Final Frontiersman" by Heimo Korth. Heimo is one of the characters in the series.

The fog of war is amazing.

I'd be more careful when using the word "amazing".

I agree that technically it's well done, but IMO it leaves too much space to McNamara to write his own narrative.

McNamara's role in the escalation of Vietnam War and the U-turn he did in the Senate hearings towards the end of his term as Secretary of Defense is something he IMO never properly tried to reflect upon...

He's still a human being and I think he showed incredible reflection. It is apparent that the events of the past still weigh on him. I came out with more respect than I had going in. The Vietnam war was a tragedy.

For a different view look at the Rumsfeld doc. Rumsfeld doesn't give a single inch but I probably wouldn't either if being asked about a still ongoing conflict.

Well, comparison to Rumsfeld is just setting the bar too low.

Don't take me as saying that Fog of War is bad or that McNamara is completely missing self reflection. Far from it. On first seeing some 15 years ago I have been impressed as well.

It's only over the years as I kept finding more and more about just how much responsibility for Vietnam does McNamara bear that I found that he's somehow trying to present himself as a technocrat without much in the way of a moral responsibility. Sort of a Nuremberg defense by steering clear of the ethical aspects almost altogether.

The World at War was actually produced by Thames TV for ITV, not the BBC, back in the days when they made documentaries. It’s an excellent series though. Laurence Olivier is a great narrator.

Is that actually Dick building the cabin, or is it a reenactment based on his diary/book?

He filmed (and narrated) himself, AFAIK.

Oh cool

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