Page 1 of 3
This new Bill Moyers release chronicles the journeys and challenges implicit in the Chinese-American experience....
Acorn Media / 263 Minutes / 2003 / Unrated / Street Date: January 15, 2013
Bill Moyers DVD releases are pretty regular affairs these days - Acorn Media and its Athena imprint drop at least two or three of them every year - and they're all testaments to the newsman's consummate ability to richly investigate his subject matter. Whether he's simply interviewing notable persons or taking on grander gestures, as he does here on this Becoming American set, Moyers is a reliable, steady force, and his interest in his topics is contagious.
This 2003 set of docs takes aim at the Chinese-American experience, chronicling immigrants from the gold rush all the way up to the early 21st century. In fact, the section of this set that takes focus on the irresistible draw of gold in the mid-1800s is one of its most fascinating tenets: Moyers illuminates elements of the building of the Transcontinental Railroad and America's shameful treatment of Chinese immigrants during the period firmly and incisively.
It's a presentation of an immigrant culture that plays to Moyers' strong suits. Becoming American not only takes to task what it means to be an American citizen and what is involved in achieving that, but it places this concept in a uniquely global and anthropological focus. In fielding issues of country and nationality, Moyers not only gets to the heart of the American Experience - he shows us our common humanity. And the results are profound.