BRAVE MAN, THE

BRAVE MAN, THE

    Price: $265.00

    Code: 1850

    Directed by Joseph McCarthy
    2001, color, 33 minutes
    Purchase: $265 Rental: $55



    A humid August morning in Brooklyn. The year is 1776 and thirty-five thousand British regulars and Hessian mercenaries are bearing down upon George Washington's recently formed American army of twelve thousand men. The Revolution could be snuffed out before it has a chance to begin. The actions of one man, General William Alexander, leading a group of four hundred Maryland soldiers, prevented a decisive British victory that day.

    The Brave Man tells his story, which is also the story of the Battle of Brooklyn, one of the bloodiest but least-known conflicts of the War for Independence. Shot with a caught-on-the-run style, The Brave Man employs maps, a fleet of red cars, a historic stone house, clever transitions between past and present, and a powerful, disbelief-suspending soundtrack. More than simply reenacting history, this innovative evokes it, asking the audience to imagine the fear, confusion, and courage of the men who fought and died. As the battle develops, the motives of William Alexander also emerge. A frustrated pretender to a Scottish Earldom, he has very personal and not-so-noble reasons for facing down the British. It is juxtapositions like this one. The personal vendetta with a national cause, a contemporary street corner with a colonial cannon that make The Brave Man an unprecedented motion picture experience. It brings history alive for students in a way that's altogether new.


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    Reviews

    "Makes history come alive. History teachers in junior high school and above will want to use this video with classes studying the American Revolution, as well as New York history."
    School Library Journal

    "Alexander is posed against the backdrops of modern-day Brooklyn, an unusual but effective technique suggesting unseen links between past and present. Enhanced by an excellent musical score, this first-rate video is highly recommended for Revolutionary War collections, particularly in libraries serving the New York metropolitan area."
    Library Journal

    "It can only be hoped that this kind of brief but valuable documentary film will receive a wide public vetting in the service of instilling greater awareness among modern Americans of the significant historical remains that lie beneath our modern streets and buildings"
    The Journal of American History

    "Highly Recommended."
    Educational Media Reviews Online