Monday, Nov. 18 and 19 at 7 p.m.
“Leonardo da Vinci” is a new, two-part, four-hour documentary directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon.
The film, which explores the life and work of the 15th century polymath Leonardo da Vinci, is
Burns’ first non-American subject. It also marks a significant change in the team’s filmmaking
style, which includes using split screens with images, video and sound from different periods to
further contextualize Leonardo’s art and scientific explorations.
“Leonardo da Vinci” looks at how the artist influenced and inspired future generations, and it finds in his soaring imagination and profound intellect the foundation for a conversation we are still having today:
what is our relationship with nature and what does it mean to be human.
The musician and composer Caroline Shaw recorded original music for the film performed by
Attacca Quartet, Sō Percussion and Roomful of Teeth. The voice of Leonardo is read by the
Italian actor Adriano Giannini. Keith David serves as the film’s narrator.
Set against the rich and dynamic backdrop of Renaissance Italy, at a time of skepticism and
freethinking, regional war and religious upheaval, LEONARDO da VINCI brings the artist’s
towering achievements to life through his prolific personal notebooks, primary and secondary
accounts of his life, and on-camera interviews with modern scholars, artists, engineers, inventors,
and admirers.
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