The Celts
The Celts believed in benign spirits and demonic forces, but made no churches or temples: nature itself was their cathedral.
Kenneally visits ancient Celtic settlements in Austria, Italy and Greece. He explores the settlement of Castell Henllys in Wales, where the religion of the druids was broken by Roman military might. And at Newgrange, Ferrycarraig and Dun Aengus in Ireland, he reveals how the Celts came to adopt the Gods of those who had preceded them.
Released in 2005. Presenter: Christy Kenneally. TV documentary series.
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2 Comments
I like the presenter who has an unusual accent that is easy on the ear and a kindly manner — like a nice old priest so I warmed to him. However, this is a frustrating series of documentaries which never attempts to offer anything except a superficial and anodyne account of its subject. It is on a level with in-flight magazines, heavy on nice scenery and light on ideas. I wonder what the agenda is: the ‘old gods’ selected for each episode are all represented as giving way to a new God, specifically Christ. Why not do an episode on the religions of Africa, Asia, and the Pacific which were around before Hinduism, Buddhism, or Islam just to even out the story? Whether intended or not, this series comes across as a sort of Christian triumphalism. More ‘Sunday School’ than history. I find that annoying and I am a Christian so goodness knows how irritating it must be for non-Christians. As an example of its weird biases: the episode on the Maya focuses on the human sacrifice in Maya religion. Actually, human sacrifice was a feature of most of the religions discussed in the series including the supremely ‘civilised’ Greeks and Romans but this was never mentioned. This means the series implies that western religion is less barbaric than S. American religion without justifying the claim. Thus we can add a subliminal message of western triumphalism into the editorial mix too. Say what? I am a Christian and a Westerner and confident about it. I don’t need to use sneaky editorial tricks to denegrate others in order to feel good about my own heritage. There is something wrong about this series and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Plus the editor should be slapped for the zip/zoom transitions between scenes which made my head spin and almost brought on an epileptic fit. Why add strobe scenes to a documentary unless you have no confidence the subject can hold people’s attention without ‘arty’ effects? The dodgy intellectual values added to the amateurish production values makes for a bad viewing experience. I will give it 2 pumpkins but only because I am generous.
None of these videos are available either…