Introducing the Transcendentalists

Although the title of this documentary hosted by James H. Bride leads viewers to expect an examination of the titular religious and philosophical movement that flowered in New England in the mid-19th century, this film is actually a curious hybrid, serving up short and disparate biographies of transcendentalism's most famous exponents: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. The first half, devoted to Emerson, presents a conventional sketch, mixing archival photos, new footage, and expository narration coupled with commentary on the writer's individual works by academic experts. The second section, on Thoreau, is largely comprised of dramatic re-enactment, with Richard Smith portraying the author and reciting portions of his writings. This is followed by an entirely separate short production, “In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau,” which depicts Thoreau padding about the snow-covered area of Walden Pond in wintertime. Introducing the Transcendentalists successfully conveys the pantheistic tendencies of transcendentalist thought—characterized by the inclination to see the divine in nature—while also pointing to the essential issues that Emerson and Thoreau tried to engage in their own often turbulent lives. But especially in the extensive remarks by Richard H. Baker, a teacher at Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, MA, the program often becomes a discussion of how best to bring those issues to life for contemporary students (even describing classroom exercises with that goal in mind), so ultimately this might prove more useful to instructors than students. A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)