Nanook of the North (1922)

Directed by Robert J Flaherty

I am unsure if Nanook of the North is the first ever documentary, but I thought a lot about the creed of the documentarian to not interfere with the subject matter, at least when it comes to nature documentaries. Here we're tracking the survival of an Inuit family in the arctic circle. The film opens up with screens of inter-titles explaining Robert Flaherty's history in discovering the power of documentary, and then creating one around a person. It also lets the audience know that his subject Nanook, died of starvation during the time Flaherty was back in Hollywood putting his film together. It lends a grimness to the capturing of this jovial and accomplished hunter on celluloid.

This family goes days without food. Fish, Walruses, Seals, these are scarce, especially during the winter months. The pelts that Nanook and his family wear are from arctic foxes and polar bears. The kayak and sleds are stretched from seal skin. Everything that keeps these people alive is taken from the land, and is dangerous to acquire. There's a long sequence of Nanook and his fellow hunters sneaking up on a family of walruses. They're so hungry when they finally capture one, that they carve it up and eat the meat raw. Near the end of the film there's an extended sequence of Nanook pulling a seal out of a hole in the ice. It takes the strength of everyone to make sure the creature doesn't escape. When describing Nanook, the film tells us that he has killed many polar bears with nothing more than a harpoon. I gained a huge respect for the skills of the man.

One of the most impressive sequences was how quickly they built an igloo on their journey through the wintery wastes. The inter-titles tell us that it takes about an hour. Nanook licks his ivory knife so the saliva that freezes instantly into ice will add to its cutting power, creating blocks of snow. Nanook cuts a sheet of ice to use as a window, and uses snow to reflect the sun through it. There's a separate igloo for the husky puppies so the larger dogs who are just as hungry as Nanook and his family don't eat them.

It's the dogs that hurt the most. In the final shots of the film, Nanook and his family sleep in an abandoned igloo while a winter storm rages. The dogs left outside are pelted with snow and lie in small, frozen looking clumps on the ground. Asking a friend about this, she told me that huskies are built for this sort of thing and the dogs were most likely fine. This leads back into my original thought of the role of the documentarian. I have a feeling that Flaherty and his team were not going cold and hungry. They were never on camera so must have taken care of their own survival. They must have arranged matters with Nanook as to this being the case and Nanook sounds like he was happy about the film. I guess it sits a bit sour treating another human being like any other documentary subject, especially when life in the arctic cicle is so unforgiving.

Personal enjoyment: ★★★