Civilisation: Protest and Communication
Cast & Crew
Peter Montagnon
Kenneth Clark
William Devlin
Ronald Lacey
Eric Porter
Ian Richardson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Sir Kenneth Clark examines 16th-century northern Europe and the Reformation in this chapter of his history of Western civilization. Following the achievements of Michelangelo, Raphael, and da Vinci, there was a period of turbulence in which accepted beliefs were questioned and defied. In Germany, wealthy merchants commissioned elaborate sculptures for their churches, but the German temperament contained a streak of hysteria which would eventually lead to outward rebellion against the Church. The invention of the printing press spurred the dissemination of thought by word rather than visual imagery and helped writers such as Erasmus gain a larger audience for their ideas. The woodcut, as perfected by Albrecht Dürer, also took advantage of the new invention to illustrate the workings of the human psyche, implementing the use of perspective to heighten the sense of reality. Printing also made possible translations of the Bible into contemporary languages, thus enabling it to reach a greater number of people. Martin Luther crystalized much of the doubt and questioning of the time in his protests, although he disapproved of the resulting violence and destruction. The images in the churches--the stained glass illustrations and the statues--were destroyed as symbols of the old order. The Reformation promoted a new figure in European civilization: the intellectual recluse, typified by Michel de Montaigne. After 1570, Elizabethan England became the only country where intellectual freedom was prized and artistic achievement encouraged, giving rise to original architecture and the writings of Marlowe, Spenser, and Shakespeare. The latter's skepticism was a culmination of the protests and doubts of the Reformation.
Director
Peter Montagnon
Crew
Kenneth Clark
Joe Cooksey
Roger Crittenden
Michael Shah Dayan
Colin Deehan
A. A. Englander
Michael Gill
Dave Griffiths
Basil Harris
Peter Heelas
Maggie Houston
Carol Jones
June Leech
Kenneth Macmillan
Peter Montagnon
Bill Paget
Jesse Palmer
Jack Probert
John Taylor
Ann Turner
Ann Turner
Allan Tyrer
Malcolm Webberley
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Location scenes filmed in Würzburg, Germany. First shown in Great Britain on March 30, 1969 on BBC 2; the sixth in Sir Kenneth Clark's series on the history of Western civilization.
