Amazon.com Essentials:
Robert J. Flaherty, who wrote, directed, produced, shot, and
edited this landmark picture, will forever be remembered as the
godfather of documentary filmmaking. While this landmark 1922
production, shot on the northeastern shore of Hudson Bay, isn't a true
documentary by contemporary conventions, it remains the first great
nonfiction film. With the help of Nanook and his friends and family,
Flaherty undertook the mission of re-creating an Eskimo culture that
no longer existed in a series of staged scenes. Nanook ice fishes,
harpoons a walrus, catches a seal, traps, builds an igloo, and trades
pelts at a trading post, all captured by Flaherty's inquisitive
camera. Though he presents a "happy" culture bordering on primitive
innocence (Nanook and his family were in reality quite westernized),
his loving portrait is anything but condescending. Ultimately Flaherty
shares his tremendous respect and awe for a culture that has learned
to not just survive but thrive in such an inhospitable environment.
On a purely visual level the film is a beautiful work of cinema, an
understated drama in an austere, unblemished landscape of snow and
ice. With unerring simplicity and directness, Flaherty re-creates the
details and rhythms of a culture long gone and gives the world a
glimpse. David Shepard's restoration, which is offered by Kino, shows
a cleaner, brighter image than has ever been available on video and
restores scenes missing for decades, and he has commissioned a new
score by Timothy Brock, which incorporates and expands upon elements
of the original score. A short interview with Flaherty's widow
concludes the tape. --Sean Axmaker
