Nanook of the North (1922)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Robert J. Flaherty

Writers:

Frances H. Flaherty (idea)
Robert J. Flaherty (writer)

Release Date:

11 June 1922 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

A story of life and love in the actual Arctic.

Plot:

Documents one year in the life of Nanook, an Eskimo (Inuit) and his family. Describes the trading, hunting...

Plot Keywords:

Inuit | Eskimo | Kayak | Snow | Igloo

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Allakariallak	...	Nanook (as Nanook)
Nyla	...	Herself (Nanook's wife, the smiling one)
Cunayou	...	Herself (Nanook's wife)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Allee	...	Himself (Nanook's son)
Allegoo	...	Himself (Nanook's son)
Berry Kroeger	...	Narrator (1939 re-release) (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert J. Flaherty

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Frances H. Flaherty		idea
Robert J. Flaherty		writer

Produced by
Robert J. Flaherty	....	producer
John Révillon	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Rudolf Schramm		(1947)
Stanley Silverman		(1976)

Cinematography by
Robert J. Flaherty

Film Editing by
Herbert Edwards		(1947 version)
Robert J. Flaherty
Charles Gelb

Other crew
David H. Shepard	....	film restoration
Willard Van Dyke	....	supervisor international film seminars

Production Companies

• Les Frères Revillon
• Pathé Exchange

Distributors

• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Cult & Classic (Brazil) (video)
• Divisa Home Video (2005) (Spain) (DVD)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Pathé Exchange
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (video)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Suevia Films (2004) (Spain) (DVD)
• Unknown Video (video)

Also Known As:

Nanouk l'Esquimau (France)
Nanook do Norte (Brazil) [pt]
Nanook, o Esquimó (Brazil) [pt]
Nanook, pakkasen poika (Finland) [fi]
Nanuk l'esquimese (Italy) [it]
Nanuk, der Eskimo (Germany) [de]
Nanuk, el esquimal (Spain) [es]
Nanuk, o Esquimó (Portugal) [pt]

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA | France

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Portugal:17 (original rating) | Portugal:M/6 (DVD rating) | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Québec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Germany:6 | Spain:T | UK:U (re-release) (1947)

Filming Locations:

Hudson Bay, Québec, Canada

Company:

Les Frères Revillon

Trivia:

The film was sponsored by French fur company Revillon Freres which provided $50,000 for Flaherty's 16-month expedition halfway to the North Pole. Despite being rejected by five distributors, the film opened in New York City in 1922, after its success in Paris and Berlin, and grossed well over $40,000 in its first week.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Le dernier trappeur (2004)

Warmth, despite the Arctic surroundings

Apparently, Flaherty's working method was to shoot a lot of footage, then piece together a scenario back in the cutting room. That clearly has to be an oversimplification. Regardless, he did a remarkable job of showing the daily drama in the lives of these people -- ordinary within their own society, and impervious to cold by the standards of ours -- and treating them with great warmth and humour.

Nanook is really quite a dashing and self-effacing hero.

Flaherty subsequently had trouble finding backing, and in any collaboration with another director, his influence is said to be the lesser of the two. Did he ever recapture quite this quality of mood? Perhaps he came closest with the delightful Sabu, in "Elephant Boy" (1937), collaborating with Zoltan Korda on that occasion.

Some people believe he did in "Man of Aran" (1934). At the moment, I remain unconvinced, although I have not had the opportunity to see that one projected on a proper screen.

If "Nanook" does not come to life for you at home, it will in a theatrical setting.