Cheap Mark Twain: A Musical Biography (Video) (Perley, Wilson, Waddell) Price

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Customer Reviews of Mark Twain: A Musical Biography

It's 220 minutes of the Ken Burns style I love focused on a figure from American literature and history that I love as well. Side A of the DVD alone met my expectations. Burns shows Samuel Clemens' own Tom Sawyerish upbringing on the Mississippi River, his experiences on the riverboats, and adventures out west. The climax of Side A is a well-done literary analysis of Huckleberry Finn that includes the context of Clemens' own life and the history of the time.

Side B is pure tradgedy. Failed inventions, financial troubles, death of his children, death of his wife, etc... The movie makes some nice insights into the dichotomy of the decline of Clemens and the simultaneous rise of Twain as an American legend.

The Ken Burns formula is up to standards set by his previous works such as the Civil War. Interesting narrative, lively and historic music, insights from historians, black-and-white photographs, and modern-day movie clips all woeven together into a very interesting and educational format.

Recommended.

A FANTASTIC TRUE LIFE ON FILM
Mark Twain the man is a giant that looms on the American literary and cultural landscape like a single-faced Mt. Rushmore. Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner cited "Huckleberry Finn" as the father of the American novel. I recall Hemingway calling it the greatest of American novels. In fact, Twain once said of himself, "I am not an American, I am the American." Born Samuel Langhorn Clemens, he arrived with Haley's Comet and predicted he would depart on its return. He did. In between he became the most famous of all living persons and entertained all classes of the English speaking world with his effortless wit and wisdom -- often attacking hypocrisy and greed and racism along the way. He took his pen name, Mark Twain, from the phrase Mississippi river boatmen used to signify a depth off 12 feet -- the point at which dangerous water became safe or vice versa. Ken Burns' magnificent 220 minute documentary looks at Twain's personal life from hardscrabble backwoods boyhood to international acclaim. Loaded with period photos and a wonderfully authentic soundtrack, Twain's words come alive and are further colored with informed commentary from Twain scholars. There's ample bonus material including a making of and behind the scenes features, interviews and outtakes. This is truly a life on film and it is superb in all aspects. This is one not to miss and there's a haunting separately available soundtrack that is rich with authentic period music that will life your soul and haunt you.

Enjoy history while you're watching
It's very clear that this "musical biography" has been extremely well researched. Famous people often have multiple biographies, but very few have them turned into musicals. It takes a tremendous collection of talent to put together history, poetry (lyrics), music, costumes, staging, and acting into something like this. This video was shot during a live performance and yet there are close-ups and different camera angles which make for good TV. It's apparent that meticulous attention was paid to many details and it makes for a wonderful viewing experience. I found myself enjoying the parts of Twain's life I already knew about and also learned a few new things. The large production numbers are very entertaining and some of the individual performances are spectacular -- some of the solos are captivating. The music itself is very well done and it's surprising that this musical doesn't find its way to production companies around the country. This is a very entertaining way to get some history about this amazing person without your typical "documentary" flatness.