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Johann
12-15-2003, 12:56 PM
This early classic documentary by Robert Flaherty is essential viewing for film buffs.

It documents the life of the eskimo "Nanook", a trapper, hunter, and survival expert. He has a family, lives in an igloo, and seems to be a very jolly native of the arctic.

Orson Welles recalled it as one of the first films he ever saw, and I think it is one of the cornerstones of film history.
The Criterion Collection has released it on DVD (albeit with scant extras) and it should at the very least be seen and remembered.

Flaherty was criticized for "staging" some of the events in the life of Nanook, but whether it was staged or not, he captured some stunning bits of film. The ice-fishing sequence is particularly good, and the scenes with his family are very enlightening about eskimo culture. (At least in the 1920's)

SinjinSB
01-11-2004, 01:14 PM
I agree. I was also very impressed with the igloo building scene. I got the DVD as part of a three Criterion EBAY auction years ago. It was the one I wasn't sure about, but I got a good price for them. I was very pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed watching Nanook and his family. Those dogs that slept outside the igloo sure looked cold though.

It's one of my favorite films from the Silent Era.