Robert J. Flaherty (1884-1951) was the son of a prospector, who mined for gold in Alaska and Northern Canada. Flaherty became an adventurer, working as a guide and explorer for the Canadian Northern Railway. He was on good terms with the indigenous population, popularly known as Eskimos. He had great respect for the Eskimos, who survived with good humor in an extremely harsh environment.
Flaherty decided to make a film about an Eskimo family. Now known as documentaries, such films were called travelogues in 1922. Flaherty served as a one-man crew: producer, director, cinematographer, writer and editor. It was Flaherty's first film, and its success got the attention of Hollywood. But Flaherty, while acknowledged as a talented director, proved unable to repeat the formula of "Nanook", and disdained Hollywood production schedules. He had a lengthy up-and-down career, with years sometimes separating his semi-documentary projects. His last efforts were on the behalf of corporate clients, such as "Louisiana Story" for Standard Oil.
"Nanook of the North" was not a documentary in the purist sense. Some of the events were staged, such as Nanook's encounter with a phonograph at a trading post. The scene where Nanook builds an igloo took several takes, with the resulting igloo re-architectured to make room and provide lighting for the photography equipment.
Nonetheless, the film is an honest depiction of the life of an Eskimo family. Nanook is the husband, father, leader and provider, but he works closely with the other Eskimos. We see him fishing and hunting seals and walruses. He has killed several polar bears armed with only a harpoon, but unfortunately none of these amazing contests were filmed.
While Nanook and his family seem happy, they have a nomadic existence with few possessions. Anything they own is needed for survival: knives, lamps, bowls, and sled dogs. Their clothing comes entirely from the animals they have hunted. The dogs have it even worse than the Eskimos, as they live cold and hungry. The stereotypical image of dogs pulling a sled like a chariot, with their master whipping them, is false. The Eskimos work with the dogs in dragging the sled across the rough terrain. The struggle for survival is never ending. There's no plant life except for the occasional moss. Nanook himself would soon afterwards die of starvation, while on a deer hunt in 1924. (69/100)
An Eskimo and his family visit a trading post, spear fish, catch a walrus, build an igloo. Silent. Directed by Robert Flaherty.More at HotMovieSale.com
Documentary - general DVD - Nanook of the North is regarded as the first significant nonfiction feature, made in the days before the term "documentary...More at Barnes and Noble
Robert Flaherty s classic film tells the story of Inuit hunter Nanook and his family as they struggle to survive in the harsh conditions of Canada s H...More at Buy.com
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