Hemingway: Season 1 | Rotten Tomatoes

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Critics Consensus

Thorough and thoughtful, Hemingway's honest approach to its complicated subject avoids hagiography without diminishing the impact of his words.

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Graeme Blundell

The Australian

This gifted team of collaborators presented an engrossing and at times perplexing biographical study of Hemingway's life and times and discovered a creator who exhibited as many neuroses, imbalances and derangements as his characters.

Dec 28, 2021

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Debi Enker

The Age (Australia)

The series conveys Hemingway's talent, complexity and restlessness... Showcasing the attributes typical of Burns' work, it also tells a sweeping story with compelling intimacy.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 18, 2021

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Chris Bennion

Daily Telegraph (UK)

The myth is stripped away, the pedestal has the legs sawn off and Burns and Novick present to us Hemingway the man, warts and all. Another great American monument, seen through Burns and Novick's crystal clear eyes.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 1, 2021

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Kathi Wolfe

Washington Blade

Makes Hemingway, with all his contradictions, come alive.

May 20, 2022

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Hrag Vartanian

Hyperallergic

Does a good job of telling the writer's life story, but doesn't probe his thornier aspects.

Aug 3, 2021

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James Walton

The Spectator

The most striking similarity between Hemingway and Burns's previous work is how right he is to have enough confidence in his subject matter to proceed with such unhurried aplomb. Or, in short, how great it is.

Jul 19, 2021

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Sandip R

I like Hemingway. One can say that The Sun Also Rises is one of those novels that I read as a teenager and it prompted me to pursue an education in the literary arts. But this documentary so filled with empty platitudes and then hyperbolic assertions ("Hemingway defied the traditions of modernism") that at best it seems sophomoric, at worst it seems like the kind of watered-down gruel that is created for wine-moms to enjoy on a Sunday evening.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

07/01/21

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Audience Member

Increíble documental, de seis horas, con un material fotográfico impresionante y grandes entrevistas. Muy buena historia, muy buen documental, muy buen "personaje".

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/09/23

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Audience Member

If you're fascinated by Hemingway, the myths surrounding Hemingway, his love for love, and his turbulent experiences as a writer, you will love this documentary. It's real, emotional, and raw. I found myself weeping for reasons I didn't know. And, it's Ken Burns. Who doesn't love what Ken Burns gets his hands into?

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/09/23

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Ed M

Excellent. Ken Burns doesn't make a bad documentary.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/24/21

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Audience Member

I have seen every one of Ken Burn's documentaries, and this, like the others has high production values, keen insight, I am glad to see that he's partnering with Lynn Novick, too. Some of the footage is hard to watch, especially the bull fighting and the big game hunting scenes. I do highly recommend it. Then my husband and I watched the interview with two of the writers as well the two documentarians. My only question, which I'm asking myself this question a lot lately, is "When does the balance of the scales shift away from the artist and instead truly weigh in on the cost in lives, in environmental murder, in sadism and lies and casual cruelty? For all of its honesty - and the eye is unflinching - the documentary still comes up on the side of "art is more important" than virtually everything else. It's the default value in our country and I'm not sure it should be. People weigh in with stars in their eyes about the brilliance of Hemingway's writing and how it changed their lives, so, in a way he gets a pass. The myth of the tortured male artist lives on, blazing a path of death and destruction for the sake of a few pretty words.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/09/23

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Audience Member

Documentary does not mention Hemingway's work with the Russian precursor to KGB and, according to Humberto Fontova, Hemingway's delight at watching, with a drink in hand, the summary execution of Cubans at the hands of the Castro regime. Tell the whole truth Ken Burns.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/09/23

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Jeff Daniels

Hemingway

Ken Burns

Producer

Lynn Novick

Producer

Sarah Botstein

Producer

Ken Burns

Director

Lynn Novick

Director

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Episode 1

Aired Apr 5, 2021

A Writer (1899-1929)

Hemingway volunteers for the Red Cross during World War I; after moving to Paris, Hemingway finds success with his second novel, "A Farewell to Arms."

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Episode 2

Aired Apr 6, 2021

The Avatar (1929-1944)

After achieving literary fame, Hemingway reports on the Spanish Civil War and begins a romance with Martha Gellhorn.

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Episode 3

Aired Apr 7, 2021

The Blank Page (1944-1961)

Hemingway tries to start a life with Mary Welsh, but he is beset with tragedies; Hemingway publishes "The Old Man and the Sea," but he is overcome by his declining mental condition.

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Director: Ken Burns, Lynn Novick
Screenwriter: Geoffrey C. Ward
Network: PBS
Rating: TV-14 (L)
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date: Apr 5, 2021

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