Product Details

• Actors: Kenneth Clark
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• VHS Release Date: April 1, 1997
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302994349
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #254,810 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Civilisation, A Personal View by Lord Clark, may be the definitive documentary series of the past 50 years. Aired in 1969, this ambitious British undertaking which spanned an "80,000 mile journey visiting 13 countries, 117 locations, 18 libraries, and 118 museums," not only reconfigured the public view of documentary style, but also cemented BBC Two and its new Controller, David Attenborough, in history. In watching this thirteen-episode series, one clearly sees how Attenborough, as well as narrator Kenneth Clark, pioneered the direct-gaze speaking style of the narrator along with the concept of placing the narrator in the setting he refers to. In episode one, The Skin of Our Teeth, Clark stands in front of Notre Dame to question first, if civilization worth preserving, and secondly, what the difference between art and culture is. Heavy. In subsequent episodes, cultural history is viewed through an art historical lens. Especially wonderful is The Worship of Nature, discussing 18th century England's obsession with landscape painting in relation to religious beliefs of the period. Deep philosophy colors each 50-minute segment. This DVD set includes an interview with Attenborough. Undeniably educational, Civilisation feels eternally significant, and improves with repeated viewing. --Trinie Dalton

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

176 of 184 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you buy only one DVD documentary this year, make it this...., June 29, 2006

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Kenneth M. Pizzi (San Mateo, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Civilisation: The Complete Series (DVD)

Lucid, engaging, and comprehensive does not adequately describe Sir Kenneth Clark's magnificent survey into Western Civilization. For a series over 40 years old, the audio is remastered, the transfers are remarkably clean, and the content and opinions of the host hardly seem dated. Clark effectively interweaves music, art, science and architecture into a broad sweeping portrait that defines Western thought. For those critics who find Clark's praise for Western art either superficial or superfluous have probably been watching and listening to the typical PBS tripe directed to an audience with a junior high vocabulary with an attention span to match.

Clark is a splendid presenter and teacher whose enthusiasm for his work clearly shows. It's all here, from the ancient Greeks to the modern age (well actually, circa 1969 when the series was made), while "Civilization" is a wonderful introduction to the "humanities"--something that they used to teach in college, but now supplanted by courses and programs of dubious relevance and replete with politically correct content.

If you snoozed during your mandatory art or humanities courses in college or just found them as an opportunity to catch up on some other homework during lecture, let Sir Kenneth Clark explain to you why these things still matter today and help to define our culture and our lives. For slightly more than what you would pay for one class at a local community college, you can enjoy a most superlative achievement in truly "higher education."

Unlike the virtually unletterd commentators and hosts on the "History Channel" who apparently utter a profound "Wow, cool!" every time they are confronted with some architectual wonder or historical artifact, Clark's presentation, scholarly but never "stuffy," is a refreshing and welcome antidote.

Clark's remarks and insight are as on target as they are illuminating--see the installment featuring Michaelangelo and the Renaissance and you will understand why. Now, if only the BBC would release Alistair Cooke's "America" with Region 1 encoding for all of us to enjoy on this side of the pond...

92 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest documentaries ever made, July 26, 2006

By 

Charlton Griffin "Charlton" (Thomasville, GA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Civilisation: The Complete Series (DVD)

If you have never seen this series before and are interested in art history, you just landed in a honey jar. Clark takes us on a 1,500 year journey through Western Civilization starting roughly at the end of the Roman Empire and ending in mid 20th century. He tells us straight out that his aim was to follow the history of Western European civilization as seen through the eyes of its artists. Why the limitation to only Western European civilization? Apparently, Lord Clark wanted to keep the series to a manageable length. The series is over 13 hours long as it is, and one can only wonder what it would have gone on to become had he included the Egyptian, Greco-Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, Asian, African and Pre-Columbian cultures. The mind boggles. With Civilisation, Clark has done an incredible job of showing us the amazing cultural legacy left by our European forebears. And at the end he reminds us that this is only a fraction of what was actually achieved. You will recognize many of these works. Others will not be so familiar. But they carry the weight of historical significance, and everyone with at least a four year college education should be aware of the general drift of Clark's presentation. He finished this program for the BBC in 1969. It was an immediate success and you can also find the book of the same name which was a popular spinoff of the series. I recommend it also. The series came along in the midst of some of the most tumultuous scenes of civic strife of the last 50 years. Against this background, Clark laid out his thesis that Western civilization has consisted of a series of catastrophes and rebirths. He indicates that our depression over the events of the twentieth century should not lead us into abandoning the cultural legacy which has been bequeathed to us. For example, if the Black Plague of the 14th century were to strike us with the same force it did before, over a hundred million Americans would die. The Thirty Years war devastated parts of Europe even worse than World War 2. And yet, the will to survive and rebuild society was always there. It is a prescient reminder for the current generation of thoughtful people.

120 of 126 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars After Nearly Forty Years, Still Unsurpassed, June 15, 2006

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Steven M. Wolf (Villanova, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Civilisation: The Complete Series (DVD)

In March 2001 I reviewed the VHS version of this classic. In recent years, I have lobbied for its release in the US in DVD. I joined Steve Lubetkin's blog last year to lobby the BBC, and now it is here. It is remarkable that this work of art about works of art has stood tall all these years against the plethora of programming that has sought unsuccessfully to surpass it. For all of us who know this series so well, it is not just a program; it is a document that families should pass on as necessary for a liberal education. Since it first came to America in the late '60's, nothing has married art, music, literature and a literate world view in the way Lord Clark showed us it was possible to do. That you may not share all his "personal views" is irrelevant. What matters is that what he puts before you will change and enlarge you. This must not be missed.