Civilisation

"Civilisation" is an engaging landmark British television series that originally aired from 1969 to 1970 on BBC2. Available for streaming on the BritBox platform, this was a massive project of historical significance, bringing to life 2,000 years of Western world history in a distinctive and untraditional manner.

The 13 episode series is written and narrated by Kenneth Clark, an eminent British art historian, and broadcast director of the National Gallery. Clark takes the viewers on a captivating journey across Europe, covering diverse epochs and cultures through art, architecture, philosophy, music, and social history.

As the title "Civilisation: A Personal View by Kenneth Clark" suggests, Clark presents a highly personalized perspective of the Western cultural history. His confident, charismatic, and often emotionally resonant narration is considered a masterclass in televisual storytelling.

The first episode, "The Skin of Our Teeth," sets the series in motion by turning the lens towards the Dark Ages, showcasing how the narrative thread of civilisation almost snapped through the barbaric onslaughts and was saved only by the monks and their illuminated manuscripts. The narrative does indeed read like a spellbinding book, each episode representing an exhilarating and immersive chapter that leaps out of the static confines of textbook learning into a dynamic, vibrant canvas of civilization's dawn and journey.

Furthermore, this serial is punctuated by eye-catching visuals and images as it was filmed across significant landmarks of historical and cultural importance, from Chartres Cathedral in France to the Parthenon in Greece and numerous Italian Renaissance masterpieces. It is a visual feast that consistently keeps the viewers engaged and amazed at the artistic grandeur.

Critical to the series is how it handles the significant shifts in Western civilization - exploring dramatic transformations from the Dark Ages to Byzantine splendors, Renaissance humanism to the Romantic era's poetic expanse - with the final episode, 'Heroic Materialism', culminating with the rise of western industrialized societies.

However, despite its sweeping historical canvas, "Civilisation" has rightly been hailed as anything but a dry, academic treatise on history. It maintains a distinct humanity in its narration as Clark often reflects on the artists and thinkers' lives, their personal traumas, inspirations, and the social context influencing their creativity.

Infused with his deep appreciation for art and architecture, Clark finds in these mediums not only natural beauty but also moral storm-centers of the human soul, passion, and intellectual convulsion. Thus, fanning out from the singular focus on dry dates and events, it dives deeply into an introspective exploration of human nature and society's ever-changing face.

It's essential to remember that "Civilisation" is a robust document of the late 1960s - a period dominated by widespread social changes, intellectual tumult, and the sudden emergence of television as a potent medium. Sir David Attenborough, then controller of BBC2, commissioned "Civilisation" in the grand attempt to show the nascent medium's potential as a tool for intellect, ideas, and inform-cultural growth.

To this day, it serves as a stirring example of historical and art documentary's potential, whose influence is discernible in subsequent programs, such as Jacob Bronowski's "The Ascent of Man" and Carl Sagan's "Cosmos."

While it has received criticism for its western-centeric view, "Civilisation" remains a must-watch for art lovers, history enthusiasts, or anyone looking to delve into Humanism's cultural and intellectual roots. Its richness, complexity, and accessibility demarcate it as one of the finest, most intellectually rewarding spectacles to have been produced in the realm of television history.

Therefore, despite the passage of half a century, "Civilisation" continues to captivate audiences, emerging as a timeless classic, an inviting gateway into the elegant and passionate universe of art history. It is not just a series, but an experience that causes viewers to reflect upon their existential being and relationship with society, culture, and history—now available for a new generation of viewers on BritBox.