The Statue of Liberty by award-winning documentarian Ken Burns is only one hour long, but is one of the most powerful films that I have ever watched. It’s a part of a series that Burns has done entitled “America.” Because our society today is struggling with how to respond to refugees and how to uphold the values that the Statue represents, the film really resonated with me. I chose the film to study the way that Burns uses archival imagery and narration, but the film is so much more than just those things. The film traces the history of the statue from its conception, through construction, to interviews with notable writers, composers, poets, government leaders, and immigrants who explain what the Statue of Liberty …show more content…
As the film progresses, it moves farther from simply images, and starts to focus in on these people. A call for action develops. We return to the interviews with immigrants, the poets, and a former congresswoman—they discuss what the Statue of Liberty means to them. One of the most powerful images is when the poet explains how seeing the Statue encased in scaffolding made her feel, knowing that the U.S. has also become such a closed place. Images of Lady Liberty are intercut with their faces. We see their …show more content…
We find out who Rodriguez is through the impact he has had on others. Bendjelloul uses historical footage and images, motion media, and present day footage of locations to unravel the story. The city of Detroit, where Rodriguez is from, also becomes a character in the film. Bendjelloul uses sweeping beauty shots, archival images, and animation to bring the city to life. Detroit helped shape Rodriguez into the person and the artist that he is. The two most valuable things that I gleaned from Sugar Man was the use of interviews with people who care about the profiled individual, and also exploring his environment. Rodriguez’s daughters are introduced in the film even before we meet