Larry Silverstein
This documentary was part of the PBS Series "American Masters". It focuses on the life and career of the acclaimed photographer Dorothea Lange, who passed away in 1965 at the age of 70. The documentary was written, directed, and narrated by Lange's granddaughter Dyanna Taylor.Lange clearly had a most remarkably keen eye in capturing the human condition and surrounding circumstances. Her black and white photos are most powerful and often heart rending.For me, two themes of Lange's stood out, those photos of the Great Depression, in the 1930's, subsequent Dust Bowl and the huge population migration from America's heartland to the West, mostly California. The desolation and despair of the American families is clearly captured by Lange's work. However, she also records, in the people's own words, their determination and hope to start anew.Some of these photographs have become world famous, such as Migrant Mother (1936) and White Angel Bread Line (1933).The other theme of Lange's which struck me deeply was her work at the Manzahar Internment Camp, established after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, in December 1941. It seems rather incomprehensible in today's times but a type of "hysteria" swept across the West Coast then, and Japanese-American citizens began to be rounded up and sent to various internment camps.They would lose their homes, businesses, and daily lives, despite the fact that thousands of Japanese-Americans were fighting for the U.S. in the Armed Forces. Lange was deeply affected by these events, and her photos of the stoic Japanese-Americans leaving everything to go to these guarded camps are extraordinary. As a matter of fact, when the military saw her photos they confiscated them all and they didn't come to light till years later. It was quite a sad chapter in American history, I would say.Overall, this film could probably have used some better editing, as it ran rather long at nearly 2 hours. However, for me, the power of the photos and their rich history were well worth it for me and I became quite interested in the movie and it's contents.
S Forman
Not my favorite American Masters production. Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans and their FSA contemporaries were brilliant in documenting the human anguish, weariness and fortitude of the Great Depression. But rather than focus on Lange herself, the film pays equal homage to the director's grandfather, Paul Taylor, Lange's second husband. We see extensive footage of his field work prior to meeting Lange. The structure has awkward transitions: Lange's Depression images are followed by talking heads analyzing her marriage to Taylor (opinions remote as Taylor's son in-law) then back again to Depression dust bowl. Most tedious was steady ethereal new-age music from opening frame to final— similar to getting a massage. I missed hearing Americana ballads born in the eras Lange photographed. These odes say much about creative release during human struggle. Hearing them in context to her images would energize the film. My patience was rewarded with focus on Lange herself, and insights from museum curators. Lange's images are ever-evocative icons seared into the American psyche. Her work held my interest during the film's lengthy two-hour run. This is fine with steady pace of visual energy, but some archival footage runs too long. Check out NY Times, WSJ reviews which sum up well.
