Civilisation (13 Parts)

Synopsis

Sir Kenneth Clark’s personal view of the development of Western civilisation, concentrating on crucial episodes in France, Germany, England, Italy and America. Against the historical background are the men who re-energised civilisation, producing works of genius and expanding our understanding of the world and ourselves. In introducing the series Clark emphasised that it was not a history of the arts, but a history of life-giving beliefs and ideas made visible and audible through the medium of art.
DVD extras include an interview with David Attenborough.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of production

1969

Notes

Originally broadcast in 1969 as 13, 50-minute programmes. BBC Video will take over distribution of this title from DD Video in April 2005.

Subjects

History; Philosophy

Keywords

cultural evolution; cultural influences; history of art; history of Europe; social history

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

£49.99 (DD) £25.99 (BBC)

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

650 minutes

Year

2004

Sections

Title

Skin of our Teeth, The

Synopsis

The Dark Ages, from AD 400 to AD 1000, and how European thought and art were saved by ‘the skin of our teeth’.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Great Thaw, The

Synopsis

The sudden reawakening of European civilisation in the 12th century from the first manifestations at the Abbey of Cluny in France to its high point, the building of Chartres Cathedral.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Romance and Reality

Synopsis

From a castle in the Loire valley, through the hill towns in Tuscany and Umbria to the Cathedral Baptistery at Pisa, Sir Kenneth explores the aspirations and achievements of the later Middle Ages in France and Italy.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Man - the Measure of all Things

Synopsis

Florence, where the re-discovery of the classical past gave a new impetus to European thought, and the palaces of Urbino and Mantua, the centres of Renaissance civilisation.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Hero as Artist, The

Synopsis

Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci feature in a programme on Papal Rome in the 16th century.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Protest and Communications

Synopsis

The theme of protest and communication, taking in the Reformation, the Germany of Albrecht Dürer and Martin Luther, Erasmus, the France of Montaigne and Elizabethan England.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Grandeur and Obedience

Synopsis

The Rome of the Counter-Reformation and of Michelangelo and Bernini. The Catholic Church in its fight against the Protestant North developed a new spelendour symbolised by St Peter’s.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Light of Experience, The

Synopsis

The revelations of the telescope and the microscope, and the realism of Dutch paintings that took the observation of human character a stage further.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Pursuit of Happiness, The

Synopsis

The nature of 18th century music - Bach, Handel, Haydn and Mozart - and the way its qualities are reflected in the best rococo architecture of the period, seen in the pilgrimage churches and in Bavarian palaces.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Smile of Reason, The

Synopsis

The salons of 18th-century Paris which eventually became the precursors of revolutionary politics.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Worship of Nature, The

Synopsis

Christianity suddenly declined as the chief creative force in Western civilisation after about 1730, when people came to believe in the divinity of nature.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Fallacies of Hope

Synopsis

The French Revolution led not to freedom but to the Terror, the dictatorship of Napoleon and the bureaucracies of the 19th century. This programme traces the prograssive disillusionment of the artists of the Romantic Movement through the music of Beethoven.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Heroic Materialism

Synopsis

Contrasts the engineering and science achievements of the past hundred years with the equally remarkable influence of such humanitarian reformers as Wilberforce and Shaftesbury. Examples range from 19th-century English industrial landscapes to space technology and the atom bomb.

Duration

50 mins

Production Company

Name

BBC Television

Distributor

Name

2 Entertain Video

Email

DVDenquiryline@bbc.com

Web

http://www.2entertainvideo.co.uk/ External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7612 3000

Fax

020 7612 3003

Address

BBC Worldwide
33 Foley Street
London
W1W 7TL

Notes

Specialises in distributing archival film and television titles, predominantly licensed from the BBC (the principal shareholder is BBC Worldwide). Sale on DVD through retail outlets. As of 2016 2Entertain is being gradually wound down and its output reduced. If something is not available via them it is advisable to try the BBC Store at https://store.bbc.com/