Voir Ken Burns: American Lives - Episode 4

Samuel Clemens rose from a hardscrabble boyhood in the backwoods of Missouri to become, as Mark Twain, America's best known and best loved author. Considered in his time as the funniest man on Earth, Twain was also an unflinching critic of human nature who used his humor to attack hypocrisy, greed, and racism. He created some of the world's most memorable characters as well as its most quoted sayings. And, in his often-misunderstood novel Huckleberry Finn, he brought forth a masterpiece that Earnest Hemmingway called the true beginning of American Literature. This remarkable film tells the story of Twain's life, full of rollicking adventure, stupendous success and crushing defeat, hilarious comedy and almost unbearable tragedy. The story is primarily told through the words of Twain himself, so viewers of all ages can be personally introduced to this compelling yet contradictory genius, who said with some justification, "I am not an American, I am the American."