PORTLAND (AP) – The co-director and co-producer of Ken Burns’ new documentary on World War II said she went into the project thinking the conflict was black and white: a battle of good versus evil.
Lynn Novick, who will share her experiences at a special one-hour preview of “The War” on Thursday in Rockland, said she learned through interviews of veterans and family members in four different communities that it wasn’t so simple.
“I gained a deepening understanding of what it is to be a human being. I learned to see the war with a lot of gray, a lot of nuances,” she said.
Burns’ film, made over six years, tells the story of World War II through people from four communities: Waterbury, Conn.; Mobile, Ala.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Luverne, Minn.
The 15-hour film will be shown over seven nights, and will begin airing Sept. 23 on the Maine Public Broadcasting Network, which is hosting Thursday’s event at the Strand Theatre in Rockland, a restored 1923 movie theater.
Novick and Burns have been traveling the country to promote “The War.”
Novick was an associate producer on Burns’ “The Civil War” series.
co-director and co-producer on Burns’ “Frank Lloyd Wright;” and co-producer of Burns’ “Baseball” and “Jazz.”
She said she and Burns had talked about a World War II film for many years, and decided to begin making it in 2001 because large numbers of World War II veterans were dying.
The idea was simply to honor the sacrifices made by Americans during the war by letting them tell their stories, by letting them “bear witness,” Novick said.
Novick said every interview she did “was a revelation.” She recalls one veteran in his 80s who talked about how killing men in battle continues to haunt him.
“He was promoted to lieutenant in the infantry, and he talked about how if you’re promoted to lieutenant in the infantry, it’s because you’re good at killing people,” Novick said.
Novick stressed that the film doesn’t have an anti-war agenda, but it does examine the stresses that war puts on people, in battle and at home.
“We thought letting people tell it in their own words would be more honest, a better tribute to them,” she said.
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