How to Watch the Hemingway Documentary

Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's latest PBS documentary digs into the tumultuous life of the American author. It's a tender and deeply personal look at a man who bewitched and beguiled us with his spare, profound prose.

Hemingway was a man of great gifts and enormous talent. But like many people who live in the public eye, he also had his faults.

1. Stream it on Amazon Prime

Hemingway is one of the most famous American writers of all time, and this new Ken Burns documentary explores his life and work. The three-part, six-hour series airs on PBS starting Monday, April 5.

Hemingway was a renowned author whose career and legacy were built on hyper-masculine bravado and the kind of ambition that can come at a price. In this documentary, Ken Burns and Lynn Novick take a look at Hemingway’s writing in the context of his life, revealing a more complex figure than the one we may be used to seeing.

The documentary features interviews with literary scholars, celebrated authors like Edna O’Brien and Mario Vargas Llosa, and Hemingway’s son, Patrick. It also incorporates a variety of archival film and photography, and animations of manuscript editing.

If you don’t have a cable or satellite television provider, the best way to stream Hemingway is through Amazon Prime Video. You can watch the first episode, “A Writer,” for free on April 5, and then pay $3.99 per month to get access to the rest of the episodes.

You can stream this documentary on Amazon Prime Video for a few different ways, but the most efficient is through the PBS Documentaries Prime Video Channel. The PBS Documentaries channel is a subscription service that costs $3.99 per month after you sign up for a 7-day trial.

Besides supporting public television, another benefit of subscribing to this service is that you can stream Ken Burns documentaries such as Hemingway and his catalog of other great documentaries on Prime Video. There are over 100 Ken Burns films available, and it is well worth subscribing to the service to watch them.

The PBS Documentaries channel also offers a variety of other classic documentaries, including the Civil War, Country Music and Vietnam. If you don’t have a Prime membership, you can also watch these shows for free on the PBS app.

This documentary is an excellent introduction to the works of Hemingway, a writer who is still revered as one of the most important writers in history. It’s a must-watch for any fan of the author, and it’s worth a watch even if you’ve already read his novels.

2. Download it

The Hemingway documentary, a three-part PBS series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, explores the life of famed American writer Ernest Hemingway. The film penetrates the myth of Hemingway to reveal a deeply troubled and ultimately tragic figure.

A three-part, six-hour documentary from award-winning filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, Hemingway is a hagiography that explores the visionary work and turbulent life of the author. It weaves together Hemingway's biography with excerpts from his fiction, personal letters, and non-fiction writing.

Using rare archival materials, original manuscripts and photographs, the film reveals Hemingway at his most romantic and vulnerable, a writer grappling with insecurity, anxiety, and existential loneliness. It includes voiceovers from actors Jeff Daniels, Meryl Streep, Keri Russell, Mary-Louise Parker and Patricia Clarkson.

If you want to watch this documentary, you can watch it on the PBS Documentaries Amazon Prime Video Channel or buy the DVD set at a reasonable price. You can also find it on Netflix and Hulu.

Hemingway was one of America's most influential writers and shaped the landscape of American literature. But, as Edna O'Brien argues in the documentary, he wasn't without flaws. He didn't always resist the impulse to reduce people to types, and he wasn't entirely repelled by pointed, class-informed racism.

But what really makes the documentary worth watching is the way it eloquently depicts Hemingway's struggles with depression and alcoholism. It's a story that's rarely told in film.

And it's a story that doesn't feel sanitized, either. It's a story of a man who fought against his own flaws and was, as one of his wives put it, "the most difficult person I ever met."

The filmmakers show Hemingway, a big-game hunter, chronicler of violence and seeker of danger, speaking on TV at a time when he was battling serious mental illness. It's a scary and uncomfortable moment in the movie, but it's worth watching because it helps to underline Hemingway's vulnerability and the severity of his illness.

The resulting documentary is an interesting examination of the man and his writing, but it doesn't do much to elevate his work beyond the glorification it has earned. And, if you're looking to see how Hemingway influenced modern American writers, this may not be the documentary for you.

3. Watch it on Netflix

A new documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick is sure to stir up some new dialogue about one of the most recognizable literary icons of all time. It’s called Hemingway, and it covers the renowned author’s life from 1899 to 1961.

The three-part, six-hour Hemingway reveals the brilliant, ambitious, charismatic and complicated man behind the myth. Through carefully selected excerpts from his iconic short stories, novels and non-fiction, the film explores Hemingway’s visionary work and turbulent life in an ultimately treacherous nexus of art, fame and celebrity.

Hemingway’s career was fueled by ambition and bravado, but he also cultivated sensitivity, nuance and clarity in his writing about relationships with women. His relationship with his mother, sisters and wives, as well as with the World War I nurse who broke his heart, greatly affected his writing.

But for all his bravado, Hemingway’s writing was based on deep understanding of the human condition and his passion for adventure. The film uses archival footage, rare photographs and animated typewriter imagery to bring Hemingway’s characters to life as they grapple with the intricacies of the human experience.

If you’re interested in watching this new Hemingway documentary, you can watch it on Netflix for free or purchase a DVD copy. The three-part series is available in a 4K Ultra High Definition version as well.

The film’s first episode focuses on Hemingway’s early childhood in a well-to-do suburb of Chicago. He was a bright, sensitive child, and his parents did their best to encourage him. The family was Catholic, and Hemingway had a love for music that he later used in his writing.

Eventually, Hemingway moved to the Midwest, where he studied law and journalism. He met his first wife, Hadley Richardson, and together they embarked on an illustrious career as a writer, traveling around the world.

In addition to Hemingway’s story, the documentary includes interviews with a number of writers and literary scholars who shed new light on his writing. They include Edna O’Brien, Abraham Verghese and Mario Vargas Llosa, as well as Hemingway’s son Patrick. They provide context for Hemingway’s writing and offer insights into the author’s limitations and biases as an artist and a man of his time.

4. Watch it on Hulu

If you’re a fan of Hemingway, you’ll want to check out this new documentary from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. It’s a fascinating look at Hemingway’s life and work that explores his complexities.

As a writer, Hemingway was able to capture the nuances of human experience on the page. He also took the risk of writing about life in a raw, unfiltered manner. This documentary reveals Hemingway’s tumultuous life and his struggle with mental health.

The film features a lot of voice-overs from famous actors, including Meryl Streep and Keri Russell. It also has many of Hemingway’s letters. The series is available to stream for free on PBS and through the PBS app.

It’s not surprising that Hemingway is being portrayed in movies and TV shows all the time, as his work is so influential and widely loved by audiences across the world. But there are some glaring missteps in the films and shows that feature him.

Despite that, the films that have adapted Hemingway’s works have been quite popular and often have been well-made. Hemingway’s last published novel, “Old Man and the Sea,” was adapted into a successful film in 1953, with Spencer Tracy earning an Oscar nomination for his performance.

Hemingway’s 1940 best-seller, “A Farewell to Arms,” was adapted into a highly acclaimed Technicolor movie that won a number of Academy Awards. The film also starred Gary Cooper, who excelled as Hemingway’s best friend, and Ingrid Bergman, who won an Oscar for her role as Hemingway’s wife.

This is one of the best films about Hemingway and a must-watch for fans of his work. It’s a bit slow and takes its time to get started, but it’s definitely worth the wait. It’s also a very interesting look at Hemingway’s relationship with his mother and his struggles with depression.