The Amish American Experience

Mediocre film, did not learn much new about the Almish

“American Experience: The Amish” gives viewers an intimate look into the daily life of the extremely simple, religiously conservative and deeply spiritual lifestyle of the Amish. The DVD consists of interviews with both current and former members of the Amish faith, as well as non-Amish historians, anthropologists, sociologists, and other scholars.
I thought it was interesting that many Amish church services are conducted in German—and more specifically, the dialect of German spoken by the Pennsylvania Deutsch (so-called “Pennsylvania Dutch”). I also thought it was interesting that the Amish refer to all non-Amish people as “English” even if they are not born in England. I was also surprised that the beliefs and practices of many Amish communities vary from one community to another. In that way, the Amish are very similar to Hasidic and Haredi Jews in that much like the Hasidim and the Haredim, many reject technology, while others do not; some have more contact with the outside world, while others do not. Also, much like the Hasidic and Haredi Jews, the Amish also are completely averse to politics and don’t believe in voting or in politics in general. I thought that it was interesting—and surprising—that, much like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Amish don’t believe in pledging allegiance to the flag. I am surprised at the Amish custom of “Rumspringa,” where people in their late teens are actually allowed to expose themselves to the wider world because one would think that would cause people to want to leave the Amish religion. I also loved the beautiful religious hymns that the Amish people sing in their churches. I would highlt recommend this documentary to anyone wishing to learn about the Amish history and culture.

Before writing this review, I read all four of the reviews already submitted and I agree with those reviewers. It was a well balanced program, divided into approximately equal length segments, each entitled for one of the four seasons. I have been intrigued by these people for quite a long time. Can’t say why exactly. The landscape is absolutely stunning and the photography showed it extremely well. There is heartbreak in everybody’s stories and two heartbreaks in this story were the two folks who chose to leave the Amish and the Nickle Mines tragedy. I do wonder if, after going through Rumspringer (?sp), if a young adult decides not to join the Amish faith, is it still as difficult for the person leaving? In one part of the film, the comment was made “the boy’s place at table is always set and nobody else can sit in that place.” And, why do they gather only every other Sunday for community worship? That ehy have morning devotions every day with just the family there is wonderful.

For fictional movies about the Amish, I recommend “Plain Truth” and “Amish Grace”. “Amish Grace” is based on the Nickle Mines tragedy. “Plain Truth” is a story in which a young Amish woman is granted some visitation in Philadelphia with her brother who has left the Church, becomes pregnant and the baby dies. Mariska Hagerty, from “Law & Order, Special Victims Unit” plays the part of the court-appointed attorney for the young woman. Even tho they are fictitious, there is a lot of truth in these stories.

American Experience has done several documentaries that I have in my video library and all are absolutely superb and deserve to be viewed several times.Plain TruthAmish Grace

This is an excellent documentary on the Amish – but be careful if you should choose to purchase, it did not play on my multi region player and I had to play it on a laptop set to region 1.

Great product and service.

It was good. Not anything I didn’t know already. I felt though I was peeking in on people that had no idea they were being filmed,which when they pointed and ran or covered their faces it was obvious a lot of the footage was without permission. So that made me sad. If you are going to do a documentary on The Amish it would be fair to the view to say on the packaging,we filmed most of this without their consent. the scenery would make a lovely documentary in itself.