Just the Facts: The Renaissance

It takes unfathomable talent to depict a historical era as dynamic, colorful and as interesting as the Renaissance into 90 minutes of the most excruciating boredom one could have in that amount of time, but the producers of this ill-fated film evidently have the requisite talent. The producers of this film have done to the Renaissance what the Ottomans did to Constantinople. Poor quality grainy images, black and white photos, are interspersed with out of context scenes shot at a twentieth century Renaissance fair. Scenes of overweight re-enactors in bright clean bulging medieval fair costumes, wearing modern prescription glasses and playing a dulcimer is just the start of your odyssey into mediocrity. The producers must have spent as much as the cost of this DVD to produce this very poor quality rubbish. The description of the product boasts enlightening commentary by Yale scholars. Yet, if these two fellows were any more laid back, they'd be asleep. The producers seem to have found the only two Renaissance academics on the planet who have absolutely no enthusiasm for their subject. Any director worth his salt would have found some community college instructors that could at least fake some interest rather than these two boring Yale scholars whose speech pentameter and demeanor would put a rock to sleep.
Factual errors abound and dubious claims are made between the medieval fair juggling scenes. Galileo's father was the leading musical light in the early Italian Renaissance? Christianity constituted only a thin veneer of society during the 14-16th centuries and paganism was ready for a resurgent comeback? I had no idea, and, evidently, neither does anyone else.
Disappointingly, very few of the major pieces of the fabulous art and sculpture of the period are displayed or even discussed. Boccaccio or Giotto are never mentioned. Masterpieces shown are in images of the poorest quality...some appear to be videotaped copies of a textbook picture. If you are like me, you want a solid concise well produced historically digestible product for either your students or yourself. You are willing to spend the money on a quality product that excites, informs and brings the era alive; makes you want to know more. In an age of technological and informational excellence this kind of second rate, rush to print DVD is a disservice to students and teachers alike. Keep looking...it must be out here somewhere.

I bought it and now I'm stuck with it. What could be more exciting than the Industrial Revolution - big machines, human ingenuity plainly visible, profound changes in society.
And what could be more boring than a couple of talking heads analyzing these issues, insulating us from the artificats themselves, which are available in museums - both as exhibits and as working models - throughout Europe and the U.S.
Sad.

I think this video is a decent and brief introduction to the Renaissance for those who know virtually nothing about this fascinating period of history. If you have an interest in learning much more about this subject I would recommend purchasing from THE TEACHING COMPANY one of their many fine DVD courses on the Renaissance.

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