Flaherty and Grierson

Ok, here's a quote from Barnouw; I always like reading it--it is 'a helpful antidote' to some other readings...

"A Flaherty documentary had been a feature-length, close-up portrait of a group of people, remotely located but familiar in their humanity. The characteristic Grierson documentary dealt with impersonal social processes; it was usually a short film fused by a 'commentary' that articulated a point of view..." (99). Rothman (and Ebert) both talk about how Flaherty created Nanook (the character, although the man was a real Inuit hunter) and the familiar family structure (although the extended family of the Inuit was likely much different) and for that matter the family, just as he does in the film Man of Aran. We'll watch a few Grierson documentaries (or clips from a few, anyhow) tomorrow, and see what comparisons we can draw.