Civilisation (1969–1970) User Reviews

The Greatest of All Art History Series

[jacksflicks · 10/10 · 6 April 2004]

There have been many fine video lecture series by prominent cultural figures, from Joseph Campbell to Robert Hughes, but for me, the finest is still the first, Kenneth Clark's landmark, "Civilization, A Personal View". The sub-title is important, for Clark's survey of western civilization through its art and architecture is certainly opinionated. And this gives the series a wonderful intimacy that previous televised surveys never approached.

Not only is there a wealth of information and insight in this beautiful production, but there is Kenneth Clark himself. A scholar of culture and art, admirer of Ruskin and student of Bernard Berenson, he was director of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the National Galley in London, as well as pioneering arts commentator for radio and television in the UK. Kenneth, Lord Clark, raised to the peerage for his achievements, is perhaps the greatest impresario of art of the 20th century.

"Civilization, a Personal View" has been criticized by some art critics as being a bit "facile". I disagree. Clark's argumentation is always reasoned, never arbitrary. It certainly is facile for pop commentators to repeat the old tourist-pleasing but phony assertion that Michelangelo designed and built St. Peter's dome. It is Clark who points out that St. Peter's dome is the work of Giacomo della Porta, not Michelangelo. Is it facile for Clark to confess that when he was young he scorned Frans Hals out of snobbery, but later, "as I grew older," began to appreciate Hals's "convivial" figures? Facile indeed. Everything Clark says carries weight.

Aside from questions about Clark's personal views - he ends Civilization at the beginning of the modern era, not because he ran out of film but because he didn't care for modernism - it cannot be denied that he delivers them in such a lucid, congenial and engaging manner, that only the pedantic and churlish could fail to be delighted with a dapper, eloquent, beautifully spoken gentleman's tour through western history. Where else do pronunciations like caPITalism and usages such as "lie of the land" sound so wonderful than from the lips of this erudite Scotsman?

"And please allow me two minute's digression on the subject of tulips." I love it!

Clark's series is by far the best televised course in Western Civilization ever created. I doubt if it will ever be surpassed. There are two men I dearly miss having met before they died - Joseph Campbell and Kenneth Clark. Upon meeting Clark in "Civilization, a Personal View," I think you'll understand why.

A wonderful television presentation

[stever-6 · 10/10 · 19 December 2002]

I was a young man in my impressionable early-20s, when Kenneth Clark's "Civilisation" made its appearance on American television. I recall, at the time, thinking what ambition to entitle a program so. Public Broadcasting had not been around for many years, and I expected a stodgy, pompous, supercilious approach to the subject of art and civilization, especially as it was coming from Britain. Surely, this was a program for the elite, the snobs of the art world, the aristocrats of Europe who had access to such treasures. Kenneth Clark truly changed those first impressions, presenting in a gentle, understandable way some of the great treasures of the human species. These pieces were no longer remote, mysterious objects stuffed away in some dusty museum or moldering palace. He clearly taught about each of his choices, seeming to enjoy the opportunity to pass on to the viewer his love and admiration for these works and their meaning, as they related to the modern world and to the world long past in which they were created. He was humorous and wise, and the photography was stunning. I immediately changed my major in college to art history and, although I never became wealthy from the education, I have always appreciated what I did learn, beginning with the inspiration provided by Kenneth Clark and "Civilisation." Mr. Clark became one of those people with whom I wish I could have spent an afternoon, just listening. I haven't seen the program in many years, though it was re-run often after its first showing. I would like to see this back on television, or on DVD. I do believe it was the inspiration for many similar, and more famous programs to follow and was part of that exceptional time in television when the UK sent us its best - "Civilisation", "The First Churchills", "The Six Wives of Henry VIII", "Elizabeth R", and "I, Claudius."

If "Civilisation" ever reappears, do yourself a favor. Sit back in an easy chair, tone down the distractions, have a good hot coffee, and enjoy the story of your past. It's shared by all of us, and Kenneth Clark will introduce you to yourself.

Enlighteneing, engaging, and intimate program of scholarly work

[reese_millican · 10/10 · 12 September 2007]

First broadcast in 1969,Civilization was produced not only to showcase the new medium of color television but also to reassure a then turbulent society of its established roots.

Before viewing Civilization I had never heard of Kenneth Clark, or K Clark as he was known to his contemporaries. At first glance he appears to be the product of a stodgy old order, a stereotypical brown flannel suit poised very uneasily in the Age of Aquarius. However his soft demeanor, articulate observations and frank but reasonable opinions quickly become very endearing qualities. I soon found myself very disappointed I had never met the man, or at least lived through his era.

I can say with confidence that if you seriously enjoy history, particularly the European variety, you will enjoy Civilization. Even if you don't, the stunning and intimate portrayal of 1500 years of art may still be captivating enough to hold your attention. This program is unlike anything broadcast in the post-MTV era, and it sets a standard of culture and erudition that puts networks which should know better, like the History Channel, to shame.

The best of its kind

[gring0 · 10/10 · 19 March 2006]

Watching the series in China, it makes me all the more proud of my heritage. The last comment is a good one; let Clark introduce himself to you, just as one reads a Herodotus or Suetonius- to be in the presence of a knowledgeable and engaging friend. having visited many of the places shown, it's also a marked benefit that the series was filmed in 1969, when travel was truly the domain of those seeking enlightenment before our days of package tours. And how clear and lucid are his discussions of culture and history! Often I found myself anticipating his next sentence from my own classes I teach, but am left feeling pedantic and plebeian by comparison. Although the BBC continues to be a source of wonderment through its historical live-action recreation series such as Auschwitz, Pompeii and the Attenboroughs, this is truly of its time when there was no need for gimmicks or embellishment. www.tracesofevil.blogspot.com

I just can't put it back in the garage

[TramMatrix3001 · 10/10 · 22 January 2010]

I know very little of Art or its history, or compete with the wonderful commentaries above, but know this; I just can't return Kenneth Clark's "Civilisation" to my garage to moulder! Every year it returns to my DVD player for a full replay as I sit back to enjoy Clark's enthralling journey through time, his insights, his sweet lines, especially of Episode Two; "like a Russian spring!", "the inflated scale of modern materialism!", "these great orderly mountains of stone!", "And so she was martyred!" And I come out of it refreshed and satisfied, and more thoughtful too. "Civilisation", so different from the common historical gruel. Where's the quality now I ask? "History Channel"? I don't think so! Not for depth anyway. Give me Clark any day!

Best thing the BBC ever made

[andyhunt-32455 · 10/10 · 6 March 2019]

Yes opiniated, yes patrician, but also an enlightening, exceptional documentary series. Nothing else I've seen on the BBC can match it (though I enjoyed The Ascent of Man very much). A profoundly intelligent look at Western 'Art' History covering music, painting, architecture, sculpture, writing (poetry, drama, prose, philosophy) and celebrating the astonishing achievements of individuals. "There they are, you can't dismiss them". Quite.

A big jewel in the crown of classic BBC television

[HuntinPeck80 · 10/10 · 8 April 2024]

The upside of paternalism, if you like. They couldn't make Civilisation (1969) today.

I know, I know. They tried. 'Civilisations' (cos there's been more than one, you know). Rightly chewed-up, even by the BBC's own arts critic, as a project without any sense of vision or purpose, the worthless and unnecessary sequel is destined for the scrapheap. The original, commissioned by that hero of BBC TV, Sir David Attenborough, is an immortal product of the Beeb at her most ambitious. The most extraordinary buildings and works of engineering, the most beautiful interiors and works of decorative art, the greatest achievements in music and sculpture, painting, bronze casting, and more besides; and all to show off the new medium of colour television.

And if Attenborough is a hero then so is the series writer-presenter, Kenneth Clark. The director of the National Gallery, an art historian of immense experience and erudition, and actually one of the most experienced culture broadcasters on the still developing medium of televisual broadcasting. Civilisation is a 13-part lecture series, of a kind, in which Clark endeavours to answer one question: what is civilisation? He prefers to answer it through the medium of art, his specialty, because it is less doubtful than the words of a smarmy politician or a propagandist historian. His journey takes him around Europe and across the Atlantic to the USA. He, and the recording team, are showing things to the viewer that they might never have known existed, much less had the chance to see in person.

Clark was an immense figure in the art world. He speaks with a confidence born of deep consideration of art and literature, over decades of study and writing. Write so you learn to think, talk so you learn to speak. Those are the words of Prof. Jordan Peterson. Alternatively, immerse yourself in the eloquence of great spirits such as Clark (and Peterson, naturally). For Clark's presentation is remarkable for its eloquence, as well as one or two unusual pronunciations (ca-PIT-alism, not CAP-italism; i-ron, not i-yun, as we tend to say 'iron' today). He also provides a model of how to be on camera without stealing focus from the art and architecture which is intended to be the central attraction.

The decades have passed and there have been many series on TV about art and history from different periods. None can match, few have ever attempted, the grand sweep of Clark's vision (vision is the apt word), nor his eloquent use of language, engagement without ego, or at times contained emotion. Most tv historians subsequent to Clark merely allow the producers to stroke their egos, so they toss their hair, make worthless shots looking out at vistas or sunsets, and talk as simplistically as possible so as not to threaten the dull minds with knowledge or inspiration. Or we get vapid travelogues, replete with segments on local cuisine and clowning. Clark's series is always replete with something others rarely communicate: passion. A passionate engagement with things he considered holy.

I watch whole episodes, or just bits of them, again and again, and over the decades I've come to love all the episodes, rather than having favourites. The more depressed and disgusted I become, soaking my attention in the tabloid vulgarity and sheer stupidity that teems in Socialmedia Land, the more urgently I need Civilisation, the series and what it stands for.

You're not educated if you have not seen this TV series.

Landmark documentary

[Andy-296 · 10/10 · 28 April 2014]

The greatest problem with this 1969 BBC documentary series is its name. It really doesn't cover civilization, but only some parts of culture, mostly music, painting, sculpture and architecture with some literature. But science, for example, is only dealt with tangentially. And it really doesn't cover the whole world but only European culture. And West European culture at that, since the important cultural contribution of Eastern European countries like Russia is almost unmentioned. Even the art of places like Scandinavia and the Iberian Peninsula, which most people would include in Western Europe, are barely mentioned. And it only covers the world from the Middle Ages on, with scant mention of the ancient Greco Roman world. So basically, this series is about high culture in a relatively small geographical area, mostly England, France, the Low Countries, Italy and the German speaking world, between the late middle ages up to the beginning of the 20th century. Yet what incredible art was created in those places during that period. In our politically correct age, we would like to believe that every country and every people has contributed equally to world culture. Unfortunately, this is not true. European culture, especially the high culture of the period between the renaissance and around 1900 achieved a depth, a craft, a complexity, a moral seriousness unparalleled in human history. So if you are willing to accept that this TV program is not really about global civilization but about a qualitatively important subset of it, then this is a magnificent TV program.

With his upper class accent, politically conservative views and erudite art knowledge, anchor Kenneth Clark (an art historian of repute) seems almost the stereotype of the English gentlemanly aristocratic scholar. As he visits historical locations in several countries, the stunning color photography, vividly showing us how Western Europe looked during the late 1960s, becomes another considerable plus of this series.

4 hours of art

[imdb-92083 · 10/10 · 29 April 2024]

As relevant now as ever as our civilisation is exhausted and giving way to the machines.

With AI, in a Terminator future, without the paradox of time travel - there is no hope for Arnie coming back to save us, time, the fourth dimension makes it impossible.

Made a long time ago, 50 years or so, using queens English and eloquent speech. It shows us we are doomed, every civilisation destroys itself after a few thousand years, mayans, Egyptians, Romans.

We don't have long, enjoy it while you can.

It's a fascinating documentary series, 4 hours to let you know where you came from, and where you are going to.

Superb Reminder of all we Deserve to be Proud Of

[roy-95830 · 10/10 · 5 May 2024]

Totally superb. The truth is that for all the current foolish complaints about the patriarchy and white privilege etc, etc ad nauseam the facts will outlive the children's current outrage.

Here is a reminder that the west has so much to be proud of. Britain especially. We are where we are today because of the success and adoption of the British and the wests systems of government, an independent judiciary, standardized weights and measures, universal education, invention, financial institutions, etc, etc.

Without the west's civilization life will be nasty, brutish and short to quote Hobbes. This cracking documentary shows the results of supporting "from the river to the sea" and the superb developments that resulted from the terrible colonizers.

Splendid Series.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 22 June 2013]

There have been many TV series on history and art, but this was one of the first and most impressive. I saw it on PBS on its release and here is the scene. I'm sprawled on the floor of my apartment with half a dozen graduate students from a nearby university, in my Philadelphia living room, some of us having lightly indulged in psychedelic substances, and the camera follows Sir Kenneth Clark as he guides us through an ornate doorway into the Sistine Chapel. But the camera doesn't stay on Clark's back. As it passes through the door it bend backwards, looking upward, as a human might do, at the gaudy splotches that adorn the ceiling. And there comes a low growl of astonishment from someone seated behind me -- "Wowww!"

I won't summarize the contents of the series here, but I guess I'll mention that the subtitle, "A Personal View," should be taken literally. At one point Sir Kenneth suggests that the residents of a Medieval village that had been passed by barbarians might have preferred being conquered because it would relieve their boredom.

But I've recently watched it a second time and it lacks the impact of its first viewing. There have been many similar series, less languorous, more quickly paced. Sir Kenneth is gentlemanly and doesn't condescend to an audience raised on commercials for hair dye, remedies for impotence, and corn flakes.

He strolls along a wall whose figures have been painted by Giotto. "Giotto's work needs no words from me," he remarks, and there follows a period of nothing but plainsong and a very slow and deliberate camera roaming over the figures. It's more than a minute long, and Clark is absent. The good part of this kind of approach is that you get to recognize Giotto's work by heart. (All of Giotto's eyes looked the same, sort of too-close-together and squinty.) The bad part is you might fall asleep for a few seconds.

I kind of wish, too, that he'd anchored us a bit more firmly in the historical time line. What was the social and political context of the work? Or, even more elementary, who followed whom? Simon Schama's series, though much less ambitious, tells us a lot more about the individuals who wielded the brushes and mallets.

A narrow-dated view of Civilization

[Bernie4444 · 5/10 · 23 October 2023]

With new knowledge and new insights history changes all the time. This presentation was made in 1969 so you cannot cite it for being a tad behind on knowledge and insights.

However, the history that is presented even for 1969 (13 episodes) is very narrow and biased. It is the sort of history you get in a third-grade class. For example, Rome is Civilization and everything around it is not. Barbarian is synonymous with non-Civilization. It even starts with art does not a Civilization make. Our presenter Kenneth Clark will go into depth on a handful of things that he is sure of and ignores the rest of history.

You will find many other reviews with more specifics on what Kenneth Clark missed. I will not rehash the details. Also, you might find that he comes across this sort of snot in some of his descriptions.

However, this was the first attempt at BBC make a no holds barred extremely beautiful documentary. The success of this documentary allowed them to go on to make but was a good documentary, "The Ascent of Man" (1973.)

You may glean a few really interesting pieces of information from this presentation however you have to go through a lot of chaff and not be sure of the accuracy of anything that you have not learned from somewhere else.

Disappointed

[drfredkelner · 7/10 · 19 September 2021]

Clark becomes tiresome by modern standards. His focus is almost entirely on art and architecture omitting elements of science that could be legitimately included.

Meant for a scrapheap of history

[spintongues · 1/10 · 2 November 2018]

Actually, this is an old tired, imperial, colonial, Europocentric view of history and culture, unpleasantly presented and conveying nothing but the contents of British imperial trashbin, starting with the thesis that "humanity invented harmony." Even more amazing to see this lack of taste and common sense from the BBC of "the golden period." I grieve that it had not ended as a highway filler, as some truly great British TV programs had.

Irritating personal views of an art historian

[tomchi-70722 · 6/10 · 13 March 2022]

You will enjoy this series if what you expect is a history and appreciation of western art and architecture. But if you are hoping for more of an insight into the meaning of civilisation and how it has developed in the western world, you will be disappointed. Some of his views were ridiculous to me. Such as the "triumph of the catholic renaissance". I am no expert, but I found his views to be too personal to be described as "history".

At first I thought the title "Civilisation" was the choice of the producers. But he does actually seem to believe that "civilisation" is all about producing great art and architecture. And that is why this series is so annoying.

I am about half-way through the series. It may get better, but I doubt it will.