The History Behind the Movie | The Boys in the Boat

Рет қаралды 119,385

Күн бұрын

Go behind the screen and inside the pages of history as author Daniel James Brown gives us the back-story of his compelling New York Times’ Best Seller “The Boys in the Boat” - a tale of the countless challenges facing the U.S. eight-oar rowing team during the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Now a major motion picture directed by George Clooney, the story almost never came to light.
Brown shares how he happened upon the amazing story of a rowing crew from Washington state through conversations with a neighbor's father who had been a member of the team. Throughout his rich and compelling narrative, Brown drops what he calls informational “treasures” that transport the reader to Depression-era USA and Nazi Germany.
This interview takes you back in time as Brown describes the six-year journey he took to find all those “treasures” and write the story that reveals the heart and dedication of not just the nine boys in the boat, but the people of that entire generation. Learn the history behind the movie, "The Boys in the Boat." @fpclassroom
#tellinghistory #theboysintheboat #berlinolympics #rowing #nonfiction #nonfictionbooks #history #historyinmovies
Quick Ideas for Using the Video with Students:
Discussion Questions:
1. Have students discuss the "lucky circumstances" that led Mr. Brown to this story and how the story was virtually unknown until he wrote the book. What does that tell them about how history is recorded? How might it matter who is left to tell the story after it occurs? Would where they are or the type of person they are affect their ability to get the story told?
2. Have students respond to Mr. Brown's perspective on getting the research done before getting started on the writing. As students write history reports or engage in research in other subjects, do they use a similar approach or a different one? Why or why not?
Activity Ideas:
1. Provide the video to students engaging in independent projects on World War II, the rise of Naziism, and other related topics.
2. Use the video as inspiration for an activity where students interview an older adult in their life about events in their life when they were the same age as the student. Have students record their interview and create a video to share what they learned.

Пікірлер: 98

@dougfriendly7676 4 ай бұрын

As a resident of the Olympic Peninsula town in which Joe Rantz was abandoned (Sequim, Washington), I am aware of yet another positive outcome of his story: the Joe Rantz Rotary Youth Fund which will provide the means to build a home for Sequim's homeless teens and give them the tools for finishing school and moving on to a productive life.

@abbyturner4467 4 ай бұрын

I didn't know about Joe Rantz which I was living close by... Knowing the beautiful end of his story and how he is still helping others will gives Sequim an even more tender place in my heart.

@melmorris134 Ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing this, what an amazing man.

@ralphstephan353 4 ай бұрын

Such a decent man to give full credit to Joe Rantz’s daughter for initiating the development of this book.

@rafaelbarreiro5912 4 ай бұрын

This interviewer Angie W. is outstanding!!! Her excitement for the story, her intelligent questions, her care for the protagonists and the process, her sensitivity to carry through a conversation that flows and is filled with new content we’re enriched by… WOW what a breath of fresh air in an ocean of subpar journalism content. Truly talented, and I assume so is the rest of the production team. Good job! I FELT and enjoyed more the story in this interview than in the movie!!

@derekzimmerman220 4 ай бұрын

I watched the movie last night. This movie is something that has challenged me so deeply about my own life. I see these men work hard and build inseperable bonds with each other. It makes me wish i was born in the time before technology made everything so shallow. They overcame so much in each of their lives, and they are heroic figures. Ultimately, this movie makes me want to build connections that are just as strong as these men had.

@naenae9064 3 ай бұрын

Going to see it this afternoon! 😄

@stampinggrannieboyd9170 4 ай бұрын

I saw the movie tonight, with friends, and we were on the edge of our seats. That was with knowing how it would end. It was a very well done movie, I just ordered the book and I can’t wait to read it.

@georgecondie6845 4 ай бұрын

I couldn't agree with you more. I found myself moving back and forth like I was rowing...between the tears.

@patriciamcgarr3183 4 ай бұрын

Voted best book in our bookclub the year we read it.

@annmorrow68 4 ай бұрын

Totally agree. I had seen the PBS video. Still I wondered if they could win!

@AlexLlorens-jk8sd 4 ай бұрын

I went to the theater and saw this beautiful movie. I was truly moved by it. I highly recommend it!

@suzannedaigle3404 2 ай бұрын

I haven't seen the movie yet. The book was outstanding. It sounds like the movie was true to the book.

@Jamie-jt4xc Ай бұрын

It’s unforgivable what Rantz had to through as a child being abandoned by his parents at a very young age but that prepared him to be the champion that he he was fated be. Damn. These boys will be remembered all through generations. ❤

@RogerWKnight 5 ай бұрын

When I went to the University of Washington before this book was written, the victory in the 1936 Olympics was well known around the University and the community. As big a part of Huskyville as the B-17 is a part of Boeing.

@GretchenKeskeys 4 ай бұрын

My husband and I just watched this film in our home theater. It is one of the best films I've seen in a while. I got a bit emotional too because my mother went to University of Washington from 1946-50 where she was the editor of the Daily. I could see her in so many of these scenes. Her parents were apple farmers. She just loved UW and it was touching to see a glimpse of what that time was like. She died in 2021. The way the author discovered this story is just amazing. It really shows us how time can fade away truly extraordinary events such as this. They are nearly forgotten. It is so special when they are captured and remembered. I so wish my mom was here to see this film. She would have loved it so. Everything was so first rate: the acting, the setting, the story, the directing, the music, and costumes. Bravo.

@jgrahamiii7749 Ай бұрын

I have read the book and listened to the audio version of it several times. I still tear up at certain places particularly those places where Joe Rantz has to face the harsh reality of being left on his own. I have wondered if my own mother knew him: she certainly knew of him and his crewmates as she attended the UW from 1934 thru 1938 and told me many times how she and her friends would go down to the Montlake Cut to watch the class day races. She has been gone 13 years now so I will never know for sure... My own time at the UW gave me opportunity to learn and witness some of the traditions of Husky Crew. My fraternity roommate was a lightweight oarsman, and two other members were coxswains. There was (and still is, I'll bet) a tradition that when a man made the team, they would shave his head. My roomie had the most magnificent 'fro of which he was quite proud. When he told me the upperclassmen had told his year they would have the option of not getting the shave, he said the morning that he would find out if he made the team, that he would not. That afternoon when he came back to the house, he was as bald as a billiard ball.... As an idle question, was your Mom from E. Washington?

@user-ow5fm2cu6f 5 ай бұрын

I read the book and I was so impressed. One of the best books I ever read. I recommend this to my friends and they all love it. Thanks for writing this 9 boys’ story after so many years.

@waterbuoyish 4 ай бұрын

This is a great sport for learning 'deferred gratification'. Former crewmate of mine who won M8+ gold in '92 Olympics informed me that they did up to 19 workouts a week (3 a day M-F, 2 a day S-S). They had very little funding. He said that had his parents not been able to support him/pay his rent during that build up he'd have had to pull out.

@keltus_warrior6491 5 ай бұрын

It's called grit and guts. Let no obstacle or challenge defeat you! That Joe Rantz' parents abandoned him is heart-piercing. I cannot imagine abandoning a child.

@WJP2 5 ай бұрын

Because they couldn't feed him. How ghastly heartbreaking.

@keltus_warrior6491 5 ай бұрын

@@WJP2 He was all of 14.

@Lazy_Fish_Keeper 4 ай бұрын

@@keltus_warrior6491 during the Depression, a lot of children in the Oxford Orphanage (just outside Clarksville, VA) had parents who chose their children over their own happiness. With no food programs, with no social safety nets, the options were to watch your children starve to death....or give them up to ensure they would survive. It's a horrid choice, and was a huge driver for Roosevelt's Bill of Health Rights he attempted to pass (sadly, he passed away first), and the reason he was able to get so much support for the WWC, CCP, & other social programs.

@kaylataylor5373 4 ай бұрын

@@WJP2 It's unthinkable to abandon a child. We can't feed you so goodbye and good luck. Apparently, this was not uncommon during the Depression.

@keltus_warrior6491 4 ай бұрын

@@Lazy_Fish_Keeper Thank you so much for this information/background. As I read your comment, I reflected on how today it is estimated 3 MILLION children in U.S. go to be hungry every night. So much for "the greatest nation on earth".

@lavieestbellerej4600 4 ай бұрын

Me and my husband just watched the movie. It's so good! I cried during the last scene where victory is claimed. 💖

@davidhardy5656 5 ай бұрын

God Blessed America with The Boys in the Boat. Great Book and Movie. Even better to know that it's a true story.

@lynneschultz316 4 ай бұрын

What a rich a story. I worked at two Olympics. It is that much more meaningful to me.

@SarkDawg 4 ай бұрын

Go Huskies! So proud of the Husky rowers then and today. Both the men’s and women’s UW rowing teams have gone on to win many National Titles.

@GR-ji9fw 4 ай бұрын

Its a great movie. Thank you, Mr. Brown - for a wonderful story and piece of our history!

@djaepy 4 ай бұрын

Anyone who rows or has rowed…and stayed with it…knows who you’re really competing with. You’re overcoming yourself! Your body wants to quit and your mind agrees, but you ignore it. Rowing a single, (coxed/non-coxed) pairs, fours, a quads, an eight, on flat water, is like no other experience. I’ve logged many many miles on my Vespoli comp. BTW…the first Yale/Harvard crews competed in the 1800’s. Those shells were crude “sixes” and not the eights used today.

@ucanon2662 4 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for sharing this great historical story about these great men, we all could learn from!

@curiosity540 4 ай бұрын

To the Author, you did an amazing job, I felt like I was on their boat! Thank you, it is one of my favorite books of all time!

@jeandonovan8640 4 ай бұрын

Thank you for telling their story.

@hoagland1943 4 ай бұрын

The book and movie are fantastic. If you like inspiring stories or anything related to sports, this is great.

@summerlakephotog8239 4 ай бұрын

Awesome interview. I read the book when it came out. It’s a nonfiction gem right up there with The Perfect Storm. Ironically they made a great movie of that book starring George Clooney. I hope this movie directed by Clooney is as good an adaptation.

@GaryDouglas-lj5bz 5 ай бұрын

Best interview I've seen with the author, thank you.

@fpclassroom 5 ай бұрын

Thank you very much for the compliment. He was very friendly and great to interview.

@comealongcomealong4480 4 ай бұрын

@@fpclassroom First interview I've watched with author Daniel James Brown. It was engaging because your subject was relaxed, the location ideal, and I'm guessing he picked up quickly how thoroughly you had read his work. You provided space for him to speak and recollect, while probing some material that had particularly captivated or touched you as a reader. Great job 👏

@robertdavis575 4 ай бұрын

Ms. Weidinger, I thoroughly enjoyed this interview and am glad you brought up the story that wasn't in the movie. The adversity that Joe Rantz faced and overcame as a child was my favorite part of the book! The background music was also very moving. Great job!

@jaymacpherson8167 4 ай бұрын

This is one of the best true stories I’ve read.

@JReb71 Ай бұрын

Great story,very well written book and great movie as well . Just think this story almost was never told .

@kathrynsmith9149 2 ай бұрын

Best book I have read in a long time! I knew nothing about rowing, but got a great understanding of it from the book. Each of the lives of the boys in the story were well described, and their accomplishments were well written about, so that you got invested in the races. It was also a wonderful history lesson of what Germany was trying to do to hide their evil intent by producing this fabulous propaganda film during the 1936 Olympic games.

@cluek9780 5 ай бұрын

The author of the book was handicapped by not rowing ENOUGH himself to learn what “swing” *really means. He mentions it almost as an afterthought, very late in the book. Collegiate rowers sweat for their schools, “recreational” rowers compete for fun and fellowship- but once their boat experiences the unity of swing, they’ll row a full summer for minutes- even seconds- of that feeling! The boat lifts, it almost flies; time suspends, pain means nothing- and it seems to unify those in it forever. Then, as some element or another loses sync and the shell drops, we’re back, smiling…. (eventually cursing the coxswain, again)

@tonywimble9161 5 ай бұрын

Reads like you have experienced that sensation, i think of it as flying, it is a very special feeling.

@cheregina1 5 ай бұрын

Agreed. The pursuit of swing is the WHY of rowing

@keltus_warrior6491 5 ай бұрын

The team works as a well-oiled machine.

@user-sf7hm6gn2f 4 ай бұрын

It feels like you are 8 times as strong.

@chuckliebenauer3656 4 ай бұрын

This was a great story, makes you realize what hard-work and team work can do. Thku

@janniechoquette8828 4 ай бұрын

Great interview! I cant wait to see the movie 🎥

@sr.saramariebelisleosf246 4 ай бұрын

Great interviewer! Great story!

@Siegwre 4 ай бұрын

Beautiful touching interview I can hardly wait

@annkuula5404 12 сағат бұрын

I read the book and it was so beautiful so pure a nd very real!

@daveclemmer4536 3 ай бұрын

Wonderful book, thanks for the interview!

@Jeromeromesheltonrecordspolice 4 ай бұрын

Came here to understand the boys in the boat better though I never read the book. I love their success story and so far as I’m watching the movie these boys sacrificed & did everything to make it despite Hitler’s views.

@libbylife7161 5 ай бұрын

Awesomeness ❤

@krisvanmaanen1356 4 ай бұрын

I can’t wait to see the movie tomorrow

@jefftinney3131 4 ай бұрын

Great movie. I'll have to read the book.

@helloitsme1158 4 ай бұрын

fabulous film

@scash63 3 ай бұрын

Amazingly awesome book, and I'm only on chapter 7!

@teresaschrader2706 4 ай бұрын

History should tell its own (factual) story. This book does.

@dforster2005 4 ай бұрын

Love this story, but let me say that saying “the physical demands exceed any sport” is just not true. The physical exhaustion of distance swimming (with anaerobic breathing), marathon runners, decathletes, triathletes…. are competitions that bring athletes to a complete state of exhaustion.

@thingme9941 4 ай бұрын

What happened to their reserve rower in the Team?

@grantmcphail9042 5 ай бұрын

It's pretty. The movie is nothing like the book

@patriciadumas34 3 ай бұрын

Very good interview. I need to know the real reason Joe was abandoned. It's a whole other story. Even tho it was the Great Depression, it is still abnormal.

@pamconnelly8798 4 ай бұрын

You must read the book to feel pathos

@rorilee9791 3 ай бұрын

Actually, I believe 2 of them served in WW2

@Pioneers_Of_Cinema 4 ай бұрын

Your narration is competing with the Too Loud background music. Please learn how to mix sound properly.

@michaelfitzgerald434 4 ай бұрын

How ignorant of you!

@Pioneers_Of_Cinema 4 ай бұрын

Instead of making an immature insult, maybe you could enlighten the viewers as to why my comment is ignorant, or perhaps why you think the sound mix is done properly. You could even tell us what is your experience in the field of sound technology that qualifies your un-substantiated statement? @@michaelfitzgerald434

@Lazy_Fish_Keeper 4 ай бұрын

@Pioneers_Of_Cinema I'm autistic and had no problems following the narrative. The sound of the birds during the interview helped solidify the mood and environment of the location for the interview. The sounds of the footage shown in the background helped concretize what the interview was about. If you have auditory processing issues, perhaps you need a sound system that allows you to exert more control over the voices, so you don't miss any of the conversation without feeling the need to attack the creative license (or sound editing skills) for what you watch?

@evanshaw17 4 ай бұрын

Add that the college exploited these boys by refusing to pay their tuition! It’s a disgrace they had to work part time and pay full tuition and then countless hours training. Why is this truth not spoken about as exploitation

@patriciadumas34 3 ай бұрын

Interesting thought. They did get a break in tuition if they rowed, But, not food or anything else. Depression era wasn't scholarship time.

@christineforbesforbes2324 4 ай бұрын

Book so much better than the movie

@lianagulzow3138 3 ай бұрын

The movie was terrible. Clooney got it wrong, as he left out Joes story almost entirely. He skimmed over the REASON these boys were so tough! And he focused way too much on Joes girlfriend and the coaches wife. The music was uninspiring too. I left feeling extremely disappointed. Sean Penn would’ve done a much better job! And I am not normally one to criticize anything.

@dougcmelik2442 2 күн бұрын

It wasn't a good movie, which surprised me.

@EyreEver 4 ай бұрын

Canada is 1937 Germany now.

@carolynrobe5957 3 ай бұрын

How can you say such a thing....

@Labonts 2 ай бұрын

Ouch 😢

@Labonts 2 ай бұрын

That may be the us if trump wins

@leftin74 5 ай бұрын

For a Hollywood movie it not very diverse. Where are the African American and the trans guy and the gay man? I am sure they could have slipped a lesbian in the crew . It’s not been made for modern audiences

@tonywimble9161 4 ай бұрын

@@silentnight22z85 Got to agree, the movie honours 11 or men who collectively achieved something really special by overcoming the myriad of obstacles in their path, whether it be Joe whose path is detailed in the book or the boat builder who migrated from England or the crewmates with their individual paths into the gold medal eight that defeated the best other nations had to offer. The story is special, only hope the movie does it credit.

@michaelfitzgerald434 4 ай бұрын

Foolish!

@Lazy_Fish_Keeper 4 ай бұрын

@@tonywimble9161 I suspect leftin74 is showing his own isms... I believe we are seeing "stir the pot" in action. Based on comments on other channels, leftin74 doesn't seem to actually value diversity.....

@debmc2291 4 ай бұрын

@@Lazy_Fish_Keeper He's pretty sure he's clever but he's just pathetic.

@Artg3nC 4 ай бұрын

This is a true story, why would there be African American and others where there’s none in reality?