TV’S nonpartisan July 4th: fireworks, the U.S. Constitution
LOS ANGELES — Happy nonpartisan Fourth of July!
In this rancorous political environment, America’s birthday is a chance for people to leave the verbal fireworks aside, at least briefly, and understand and appreciate what they’ve got.
TV, which typically revels in leftright shouting matches, instead is cooperating with shows that help do just that — among them an unusual documentary from Emmywinning documentarian Alexandra Pelosi.
HBO’S “The Words That Built America” (4 p.m. Tuesday) offers an unabridged reading of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights by politicians of all stripes, celebrities and even kids.
As the daughter of House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, the filmmaker sees the partisan divide firsthand. The especially bitter 2016 presidential election inspired her and Sheila Nevins, who runs HBO’S documentary unit, to develop the inclusive project.
The film is brief, 45 minutes, and simply executed: facing the camera solo, each person reads a self-selected passage from one of the documents. Participants include President Donald Trump and his five living Oval Office predecessors; U.S. senators, congressmen, Supreme Court justices and, among the stars, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep and Common.
Author David Mccullough provides historical context with a spare narration.
“The Constitution is the rulebook for how this country operates” and provides a framework to assess what’s happening in government now, Pelosi said.
“Maybe if people were forced the read the document and how the system works, they wouldn’t say half the things that come out of their mouths on cable news,” she said.
That includes demands for Trump’s impeachment which, Pelosi said, don’t reflect the reality of how and why such an action could be taken.
There are a few opportunities in the film for determined political tea-leaf reading. Trump chose to recite the section on establishment of the electoral college. Both former Vice President Dick Cheney and Rep. Pelosi selected parts of the Constitution that address, among other issues, impeachment.
More TV options saluting the nation, in ways thoughtful or rousing: “America in Color,” debuting 5 p.m. Sunday, Smithsonian Channel. The five-part series showcases film and photos of milestone 20thcentury U.S. events that have been colorized with what’s described as “cutting-edge technology” and artistry. Liev Schreiber narrates.
The approach transforms “a past that seemed gray and distant into a cinematic experience” and makes history more compelling and tangible, channel executive David Royle said in a statement.
Filmmakers spent nearly 6,000 hours searching through archives and private collections to find 27 miles of film, much of it long unseen, which was then colored by experts in — ahem — France.
The series opens with the 1920s and includes rare footage of a Wall Street bombing; the Ku Klux Klan’s resurgence; the birth of the Jazz Age “flapper,” and images of sports legends Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey.