Front Office Football Central - View Single Post

sabotai · 12-22-2006, 06:20 PM

Nanook Of The North (1922)
Directed By: Robert J. Flaherty
Starring: Nanook and his much family
Length: 79 min

Credited as being the first feature length documentary, Flahery's "Nanook Of The North" follows Nanook, an eskimo of the Inuit tribe, and his family as they live their lives. We see Nanook trading, hunting, fishing, building an igloo after a long day's travel, etc.

The film is criticized, however, because many of the scenes, if not all, are staged. TO be honest, I don't see how you could do a documentary any other way back then. It's not like they had cameras and microphones that were easily moved around and could be left recording. They had equipment that required them to set up and shoot for relatively short periods of time. For instance, the interior igloo shots were not actually inside of an igloo. The Inuits built a 3-walled igloo because they had to. The camera was buliky and would not capture any images inside an actual igloo.

Also criticised because Flaherty encouraged Nanook and others to hunt with spears instead of guns (although what they were hunter were actual wild animals). Flaherty wanted to capture what it was like for the Inuits without European influence.

While these actions (staging scenes) have become unethical in documentary work, during his time, with this subject matter, I simply can't see how he could have done it without re-enacting scenes.

Nanook died in 1922 when he was caught in a snowstorm while out hunting. His death was reported in newspapers around the world. The film was a huge success for Flaherty, who went on to make several more documentaries.

Entertainment Rating: 6/10
Historical Rating: 7/10

12-22-2006, 06:20 PM	#78
sabotai General Manager Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: The Satellite of Love	Nanook Of The North (1922) Directed By: Robert J. Flaherty Starring: Nanook and his much family Length: 79 min Credited as being the first feature length documentary, Flahery's "Nanook Of The North" follows Nanook, an eskimo of the Inuit tribe, and his family as they live their lives. We see Nanook trading, hunting, fishing, building an igloo after a long day's travel, etc. The film is criticized, however, because many of the scenes, if not all, are staged. TO be honest, I don't see how you could do a documentary any other way back then. It's not like they had cameras and microphones that were easily moved around and could be left recording. They had equipment that required them to set up and shoot for relatively short periods of time. For instance, the interior igloo shots were not actually inside of an igloo. The Inuits built a 3-walled igloo because they had to. The camera was buliky and would not capture any images inside an actual igloo. Also criticised because Flaherty encouraged Nanook and others to hunt with spears instead of guns (although what they were hunter were actual wild animals). Flaherty wanted to capture what it was like for the Inuits without European influence. While these actions (staging scenes) have become unethical in documentary work, during his time, with this subject matter, I simply can't see how he could have done it without re-enacting scenes. Nanook died in 1922 when he was caught in a snowstorm while out hunting. His death was reported in newspapers around the world. The film was a huge success for Flaherty, who went on to make several more documentaries. Entertainment Rating: 6/10 Historical Rating: 7/10 Last edited by sabotai : 12-16-2007 at 10:54 PM.