Johannes Calvin: Reformer and Controversial Theologian - Biography & Historical Insights for Christian Studies and Reformation Research

I purchased this DVD believing it would contain a relatively well-produced, historical documentary of John Calvin's life, thought, and impact on intellectual history. I was hoping for engaging reenactments and expert commentary on the order of a Ken Burns film. Instead, what I viewed was essentially the sort of dull instructional DVD that community college students might watch in a bad general education course.The DVD appears to be of European production, but translated into or dubbed over in English. The DVD's instructional content is loosely organized around a sequence of the most salient events in John Calvin's life history. The instructional content is "loosely" organized because the sideline commentary and film footage sometimes drift in relevance so far from the events being discussed that the viewer loses any sense of forward movement through the life of Calvin. Calvin, moreover, is the only character in any of the reenactments, and he is portrayed by an actor who is made-up to look like the Reformer in the DVD's first scenes. This backstage peek into the actor's make-up preparation destroys whatever feeling of reenactment that a viewer might otherwise have left. Finally, the weak reenactments are accompanied by dubbed over commentaries from German, French, and Dutch "experts," whose expertise on Calvin and his world is highly suspect given some of the uninformed opinions they express.Overall, the content of this DVD is a disappointment, and I cannot recommend it for educational or entertainment purposes.