If you have or had cancer, or love someone who has, you’ve probably had to learn a great deal of medicine already. If you don’t have cancer in your life, your inclination may be to stay as far away from the subject as possible.
But “Cancer: Emperor of All Maladies” on PBS, the latest epic from acclaimed documentarian Ken Burns, is an engaging work of strong storytelling. The film guides us through the history of the illness and the marvels of unfolding scientific mysteries, illustrated by intimate personal accounts and geared to the layman’s understanding and fear of this once-unmentionable disease.
The statistical fact is, everyone’s life has been touched by cancer.
Based on the 2010 Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same title by Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D., “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer” (Simon & Schuster), the film is an ambitious effort supported by a Web series, NPR radio shows, educational outreach and more.
Airing March 30-April 1, 8-10 p.m. each night on Rocky Mountain PBS, the three-part, six-hour film by Barak Goodman is more uplifting than heartbreaking.
The takeaway is that researchers believe “real, durable cures are not only foreseeable but inevitable.”
Deftly combining personal stories with historical background, from an ancient Egyptian scroll describing the disease through the latest hopeful breakthroughs, the story is held together by intermittent narration from Mukherjee, an articulate tour guide. While a “mature audiences” disclaimer precedes each installment, the average viewer will find it more engrossing than alarming.
“Emperor” grew out of Mukherjee’s experience as a cancer physician trying to understand the disease.
“Treating cancer is one of the most significant human challenges we’ve ever faced,” he said in a statement accompanying the film. “But now, for the first time, we are at an extraordinary moment in the history of cancer research because we finally are beginning to understand what causes cancer at a cellular, or molecular, or a genetic level in a way we just did not know 10 years ago or even five years ago. This project will provide the public with a clearer vision of where we are in this extraordinary journey.”
The film references cancer media coverage over the years — there’s the late Peter Jennings noting a promising new treatment, Katie Couric’s colonoscopy, newspaper clippings about the link between smoking and lung cancer, theories about geographic cancer clusters, the drug Herceptin and immunotherapy treatment. The headlines have been noted, yet the larger subject of science history on TV is largely untapped. “Emperor” puts it all together.
Goodman, who directed the film, said, “I want people to come away from our film with less fear and more hope about the future of cancer.”
By interviewing specialists who are good at speaking in simple terms, by breaking down the chemistry and genetics with illustrations and computer graphics, and by keeping us in suspense with dramatic individual stories, Goodman has ensured our attention.
Here’s hoping the next few years provide cause for a documentary update about further breakthroughs.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830, jostrow@denverpost.com or twitter.com/ostrowdp
