Customer Reviews

Biography - Ernest Hemingway: Wrestling with Life (A&E DVD Archives)

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This video is a masterpiece. I love Hemingway and here the man is captured in all his in your face-tortured-life loving-woman loving glory. The language in this video is hardly disturbing which makes me think the person who wrote a review for this video claiming it was full of curse words did not actually see it. If anything this video will instill in the viewer a need to read more about the man and his work. A rare video. I've seen it a half dozen times and it never loses it hold on me. For any Hemingway fan this is a must.

A worthwhile and well constructed precise of Hemingway's life, most valuable for its insights from Hemingway's sons and archival moving film footage, including some sound bites of Hemingway speaking. The video relies (necessarily) on a fair amount of still photography, much of which will be familar to Hemingway aficionados, nevertheless, the presentation is compelling.

The review belows states that this video is full of cuss words. Unless you're a nun, I don't see why you didn't show 14 year old students this video. I think they can handle words like ''damn'' and ''hell''.
This video is great. It captures the spirit of Hemmingway perfectly; a boy trying to find his masculinity. Perfect for teenage boys, to help them avoid mistakes Hemmingway may have made and realize who they are.

As a new teacher looking for material to accompany my lessons, I bought this to show to my 11th grade American Lit students. I ended up returning it only because after renting it from the library, I decided I preferred to own the more recent documentary on Hemingway's life, "Rivers to the Stream."
"Wrestling with Life" is narrated by a very stiff and serious Mariel who looks like she's about 18. It also goes a bit too extensively into his childhood and his antipathy towards his mother. But keep in mind I bought this to view with my 11th graders so I was also watching it through their highly crticial and easily distractable eyes. Had it been the only one available, it would have done the job. But the newer DVD is much richer in my opinion. (I found the negative reviews of "Rivers to the Stream" completely unfounded;I had no problem with female narration of his short stories.)

Accurate ,terse, clear portrayal . Hemingway is shown, all of his worts.Not fawning, not too long,shows Papa at his best and worst.The parts on Spain and the Nobel[meaning the Old Man and the Sea,which rehabilitated his reputation} are especially well done.Hemingway has fallen out of favor,again.People mistake courage for bluster,show for substance.He was a complex man who wrote the most influential prose of the american century. I obscenity those who criticize him and this show.

Produced in 1998 for A&E's "Biography" series, "Ernest Hemingway: Wrestling With Life" is simply the best documentary ever produced on the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. This 90-minute documentary is narrated by Hemingway's grand daughter, actress Mariel Hemingway, and features insightful comments from Ernest's sons Jack and Gregory. "Papa Hemingway" author A.E. Hotchner and publisher Charles Scribner III also provide illuminating commentary. The documentary takes us from Hemingway's childhood in Oak Park, Illinois to his final, tragic days in Ketchum, Idaho, detailing the triumphs and tragedies of the legendary author's life. "Papa" is not always presented in a flattering light, as Hemingway's infidelities, personality flaws, and struggles with alcohol and depression are all discussed unflinchingly. Actor Scott Glenn reads from Hemingway's works and letters, and most surprising for a documentary of this nature is composer Frank Becker's memorable and evocative music score for this fine production.

"Ernest Hemingway: Wrestling With Life" is a triumph and a must-see for those who love this author's work; his life was just as fascinating.

I was very excited to find a video about the life of Ernest Hemingway. What a great introduction for my eighth grade class before we began reading Old Man and the Sea...so I thought. I was very disturbed with the profanity in the video. After the first few "cuss" words, I was just looking for a section I could show, perhaps 15-20 minutes that were profanity-free, alas, it was not to be. Although Hemingway's work is peppered with profanity, I found it unnecessary for the video about his life to be littered with it. What a huge disappointment.