The Renaissance: The Origins Of The Modern West (1994), The Renaissance: The Origins Of The Modern West (1993)

Abstract

Right up front this reviewer has to make a confession. While "channel surfing," my first impression of the original five PBS hour-long programs upon which the longer telecourse is based was a negative one. Admittedly I only saw bits and pieces of the programs, but I particularly remember an actor wearing a black turtleneck sweater dramatically reading the words of Jan Hus. A film technique no doubt intended to render his words more meaningful to contemporary audiences, but which struck me at the time as being incredibly phony and pretentious. But initial impressions can be quite erroneous.