Nanook and Flaherty

Nanook of the North was the first silent documentary made by Robert J. Flaherty in 1922. Flaherty learned to use a motion picture camera while he was a mining engineer in the Canadian arctic. Because of Nanook of the North, Flaherty is credited as being the father of documentary film. Nanook of The North was a commercial success and became known the world over. 

Despite the success of Nanook of The North, Flaherty is often criticized for being the director that he was. While making Nanook of The North, Flaherty fathered a son with one of his actresses Nila whom he never raised or acknowledged. Grierson said "Flaherty is like a feudal barren with his retainers". While filming Man of Aran and other films, locals were so poor they became easily exploited by Flaherty who used them in often dangerous or misrepresented situations. It was said that Flaherty wasn't interested in reality, it was how he could fit what was going on in his vision as if it was a piece of poetry. 

Here is my initial response...

During previewing of Nanook of The North, I can honestly say that I had no knowledge of this film. From the title I assume it was about someone or something in the north. After seeing the film I could understand how you could infer that it had to do with Eskimoes, however, "Nanook" could be a name from a lot of different places. I felt that the films had two modes, poetic and observational. Poetic because it had formal organization, it that you followed the character through his day to day life and observational in that you were directly engaged with the characters and how they survived. The film begins with Nanook, an Eskimo with his family. It is funny when Nanook gets in his Kayak only to find his children hiding inside. This is the first taste of how happy the family seams as a group. 

The music was purely background. It did not change much, rather pleasantly constant throughout the film. I felt Nanook had a lot of action for a documentary. During the film, you were able to see Nanook go fishing with a harpoon and an ivory lure. Then a successful walrus hunt. Followed by Nanook catching a snow fox, building an igloo, restraining his sled dogs, and best of all; pulling a seal that was big as him through three feet of ice. I was very impressed by all the variety this film had. 

During the film there was various clips of text letting you know what was going on in between scenes. The text gave you understanding while explaining who Nanook was, where he lived, and the reason for the film. 

My initial reaction to the film was that the film was made as a documentation of the Eskimos way of life. It evoked emotions relating to the family unit and how Nanook was the provider. Nanook of the North portrayed day to day life as Nanook and his family survived. They ate many of their meals raw and used different techniques to struggle through the harsh subzero environment. Even with all the captured desperation, you still see Nanook smile, which I believe captures the message of the whole film "happiness despite harsh conditions". Strengths and weaknesses of the film by today's standards would be technology. This film was made in the 1920's yet still captures the audience by showing real behavior by Nanook and his family. There is no "acting" or dramatization(remember this was my initial response), only real life experiences captured on film. The ending text follows the howling of Nanook's dog that is actually part wolf and how this typifies life in the frozen wasteland.

That was my initial response to Nanook of the North. After discovering how much fabrication went into the making, I began to see that even a documentary can be a recreation at best. Nanook was more a person like you and me. He understood how a camera worked and would help disassemble and reassemble the device. Nanook used a gun to hunt seal, not a harpoon. Nanook was a character of fiction portraying a way of life that had been lost. The white man had come and had changed things forever, however, I believe the commercial success of this film was by reason of people becoming more advanced themselves and looking back at something that had been left behind. People around the world saw Nanook pull a seal out of the frigid ice that was larger than he was. They believed just as I did that he actually did this because it was a movie about an amazing person. This is what Flaherty wanted you to think. Flaherty followed the same formula of the family unit to steal your sympathy and become directly involved in what was going on. He knew that the success of the film depended on you relating to the characters no matter what.    

In conclusion, Robert Flaherty is credited for being the father of documentary film. He did this by fabricating scenes  and recreations so that you would have something to watch and say "wow". A true pioneer and innovator, Robert Flaherty never let fiction get in the way of fact or at least the pretend documentation of it.