Simon Schama’s John Donne

Distributed by Films Media Group, PO Box 2053, Princeton, New Jersey 08543-2053; 800-257-5126Produced by the BBCDirector n/a2009, DVD, color, 58 min. As a professor of both history and art history at Columbia University, Simon Schama has contributed to several BBC and PBS documentaries on topics concerning art, literature, and British history. In this documentary on seventeenth-century poet John Donne, Schama takes a look at the life and work of one of the greatest poets in the English language. Schama guides viewers through the dramatic events that characterized Donne’s life and provides an insightful probing into several of Donne’s poems, including “To His Mistress Going to Bed,” “The Canonization,” “The Good-Morrow,” and “Holy Sonnet XIV.” Schama plunges into both the beauty of Donne’s verse and the intriguing questions surrounding the life story of a man who broke “every rule in the book.” This film mixes scenes from contemporary London, interviews with Oxford scholar John Carey, and poetry readings from actress Fiona Shaw to provide a wonderful resource for those who are new to Donne’s work. The many scenes of modern London prompt viewers to find contemporary resonances in Donne’s poetry, while Shaw’s gorgeous poetry readings make for a wonderful listening experience. Recommended for high school and college libraries.