About this movie
- Genres:
- Documentary, Classics, Family
- Language:
- English
- Running time:
- 1:18:26
- Partner rating:
- Released:
- 1922
Cast & Crew
Cast
- Allakariallak
- Nyla
- Cunayou
- Allee
- Allegoo
-
Berry Kroeger
spoken by
Directors
- Robert J. Flaherty
- Robert Flaherty
Producers
- Robert J. Flaherty
- John Révillon
Writers
- Frances H. Flaherty
- Robert J. Flaherty
Nanook Of The North
Nanook of the North is regarded as the first significant nonfiction feature, made in the days before the term "documentary" had even been coined. Filmmaker Robert Flaherty had lived among the Eskimos in Canada for many years as a prospector and explorer, and he had shot some footage of them on an informal basis before he decided to make a more formal record of their daily lives. Financing was provided by Revillion Freres, a French fur company with an outpost on the shores of Hudson Bay. Filming took place between August 1920, and August 1921, mostly on the Ungava Peninsula of Hudson Bay. Flaherty employed two recently developed Akeley gyroscope cameras which required minimum lubrication; this allowed him to tilt and pan for certain shots even in cold weather. He also set up equipment to develop and print his footage on location and show it in a makeshift theater to his subjects. Rather than simply record events as they happened, Flaherty staged scenes -- fishing, hunting, building an igloo -- to carry along his narrative. The film's tremendous success confirmed Flaherty's status as a first-rate storyteller and keen observer of man's fragile relationship with the harshest environmental conditions. (In a sadly appropriate footnote, Nanook, the subject of the film, died of starvation not long after the film's release.)
Reviews by Rotten Tomatoes
100%
percent positive reviews
-
Dave Kehr, Chicago ReaderFlaherty wasn't much of an ethnologist -- he routinely staged scenes for his camera and insisted that his subjects return to traditions they'd abandoned generations before -- yet he was a master dramatist.
– Full review
-
Variety Staff, Variety
Despite the comparatively primitive technique and the natural difficulties of shooting a film in the frozen Hudson Bay wastelands, every minute of Nanook lives up to its reputation.
– Full review
-
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Nanook is one of the most vital and unforgettable human beings ever recorded on film.
– Full review
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