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The Greatest Journeys on Earth |
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This collection of thirteen one-hour documentaries suggests unusual
itineraries through some of the most beautiful places on earth. Each journey
takes the viewer beyond the usual commonplace clichés of travel
destinations. Instead, through geography, history, architecture, culture,
celebrations, leisure activities and gastronomy, viewers are able to
appreciate the art of living in each destination. With interviews, visits,
lavish meals and celebrations, viewers become aware of the richly-textured
history of these great destinations.
Each program investigates the history and progress of a skill, a means of
expression, or a practical discovery that has become an integral part of
economic life in a world-famous region. In this way, each story paints a
historical portrait and reveals a way of life. The Greatest Journeys on
Earth brings viewers into the network of inns and castles in each
destination. Gastronomy, leisure, and reminders of celebrities who marked
the history of these sites allow viewers to relive, in the present, the
magnificent times of the past.
AUSTRIA
Journeys Through the Salt Mines
From the thirteenth century onward the name of the city of Salzburg is
synonomus with wealth, opulence and magnificence. If at first prosperity is
derived from mining salt and the turquoise water of its many lakes, it also
comes from the romantic spirit floating in the air of Mozart’s birth place.
Austria also boasts it is the kingdom pastryand a gastronomy whose variety
is equal only to its alpine views.
CALIFORNIA
Journeys of the Adventurers
With its golden beaches and sheer cliffs, glacial water and tropical palms;
with its ever-spreading metropolis, larger-than-life celebrities, and
over-the-top prosperity, California is, without contest, the kingdom of
contrast, beyond measure and beyond superlatives.
For four centuries this land at the edge of the western world attracts hardy
adventurers like a magnet, and today’s California is modeled in the image of
the extravagant landscapes and the legendary tycoons who call it home.
CANADA
Journeys through the Rockies
On the eve of the New Year, 1871, British Columbia put on her wedding dress
and prepared to unite her destiny to that of the young country, Canada. The
Prime Minister, the conservative, Sir John A. MacDonald, obtained his
bride-to-be’s consent by promising to build a railroad that will cross the
country from East to West. The die is cast, the iron horse must cross the
Rockies. This monumental task will unfurl in a mountain wilderness, and will
be the starting point of tourism for Canadian Pacific.
ENGLAND
The Journeys of Charles Dickens
In 1836, the start of the longest reigning queen of England coincides with
the beginning of the career of the greatest British author since Shakespeare
: Charles Dickens. In discovering the characters created by Dickens and the
author’s haunts, the viewer becomes a privileged witness to the economic,
scientific, and cultural effervescence that marked Victoria’s reign. They
became a blueprint for today’s London and present day England.
FRANCE
Journeys of the Sun King
At the end of the 17th century in the reign of Louis the Fourteenth, the
marshes and woods of a little burg neighbouring Paris became the site of the
most monumental architectural caprice in the history of France. Versailles !
Soon Europe’s monarchs and the entire civilized world will turn an envious,
incredulous eye to Versailles, with its superb gardens, handsome château and
the never-before-seen ostentation flourishing in the court of the Sun King.
GREECE
Journeys to the Gods
After having venerated the pagan gods of Antiquity, two thousand years ago
Greece chose to convert to Christianity. From that time forward monks
undertook the construction of imposing monasteries hidden away in unusual
spots like the edges of cliffs, volcanic islands, or inaccessible rocky
summits. Travelers who choose to visit Mount Athos, the Meteoras or the
Island of Patmos will not only live through a memorable mystical experience,
but will dive head first into an unforgettable odyssey, leading to the heart
of the Byzantine Empire.
IRELAND, GREAT BRITAIN, AND BRITTANY
Journeys of the Celtic Legends
According to legend it’s the first of May that the Tuatha De Danaan, a holy
people from the isles of Septentrion, arrived in Ireland, carried on a
cloud. Three thousand years later this founding mythology of Celtic culture
will give birth to the legend of King Arthur and his knights of the Round
Table - their exploits continue to feed the collective imagination of the
West to this day.
JAPAN
Journeys on the Tokaïdo
The country of the rising sun, the Tokaïdo or, literally "the road from the
sea to the east," is the spine for the roadways around which modern Japan
was created to put an end to the absolute power of the shoguns and the
samurais. Today rites and traditions in Japan are rife with symbolism where
every detail has significance, and where the tea ceremony, calligraphy and
gastronomy are evidence of a lifestyle whose refinement has been pushed to
its zenith.
PERU
Journeys to the Golden Cities
Peru… Legendary country of the fabulous Cities of Gold that attracted
adventurers and the Spanish conquistadors. Even violated and stripped of its
treasures, Peru, with its larger than life landscapes, its dizzying peaks
and the vestiges of mysterious cities, remains a fascinating land, still
inhabited by the spirit of the Incas and their amazing rites.
QUÉBEC
The Journeys of the Trappers
It is in the 17th century that the first European adventurers, known as "
coureurs des bois ", appeared in New France. On a trip that takes us from
Quebec to Montreal, then to the Great Lakes, we follow, beyond time and
beyond seasons, the traces of these early trappers who confronted great
difficulties with courage, enabling them to get their cargo of fur pelts to
Europe where they were so valuable. At the same time, as we get to know some
colourful characters, the coureurs des bois’ journey will take us through
stunning countryside that inspires celebration and meditation.
SOUTH AFRICA
Journeys of the Freedom Songs
On the 6th of November, 1964, political activist and composer of many South
African freedom songs, Vuyisilli Mini was condemned to death. Leaving his
cell his jailer sarcastically asked him if he was going to sing on his way
to the gallows. On his way to the hangman’s rope, Vuyisili Mini and two
others who will be hung with him, as well as all the prisoners of Pretoria
intoned one of the songs written by Mini, "Watch Out Verwoerd!" ("The Black
Man is coming!") South Africa, known for its brutal past, possesses a hidden
treasure richer than its underground gold and diamonds, a more powerful arm
than its tanks and AK-47: song and music. You can kill a man, but his song
lives on.
SPAIN
Journeys Through The Land of the Builders
A symbol of modern Europe, Barcelona is a city renowned for its exceptional
architecture, where Gothic and Art Nouveau styles are married in rare
harmony. A unique pearl set in a precious jewel case, Barcelona is the
capital of Catalonia, where street festivals are spontaneous happenings,
revealing their secular, folkloric traditions. From the Middle Ages Catalans
have been a strong, proud people, loving freedom above all things.
VENICE
Journeys Through the Glass
Located on the frontier between the West and the Orient, Venice has raised
the art of masquerade and and narcissism to new heights. This city blessed
by the gods has jealously guarded the secret of making glass and mirrors
since the Middle Ages. Capital of appearances and intrigue, Venice knows, as
no other place, how to seduce visitors and plunge them into the splendors of
past glories, and into the magic of its carnival. With mysterious masked
guides showing the way, we visit Venice’s most treasured places, its
legendary palazzi, and, stopping at an underground casino, bump into
Casanova himself.
DVD LENGTH: Feature program: 48 Minutes; Extra content: 12 previews of other
destinations, approx. 4 minutes each.
VHS LENGTH: 13 hour-length videocassettes
ORDER CODE:JM20283DVD
DVD
ORDER CODE: JM20151V
VHS
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