14. Nanook of the North (1922)

Running Time: 79 minutes

Directed By: Robert J. Flaherty

Written By: Robert J. Flaherty

Main Cast: Nanook, Nyla, Cunayou, Allee, Allegoo

DOCU-WHAT-ARY?

The ultimate goal of a documentary filmmaker, in my opinion, is to draw your interest to a subject, that otherwise, you would have no interest in. Robert J. Flaherty does just that in Nanook of the North.

Nanook of the North chronicles a couple of weeks in the lives of a common Eskimo family, headed by the great hunter Nanook (meaning Master of Bears), as they hunt, fish, build igloos and basically just try to survive in the bitter cold and relentless Arctic.

Everyone, of course, has their basic preconceived ideas of Eskimos. They build and live in igloos, they're always wrapped in parkas, they live amongst the polar bears, etc. Whatever your ideas and cliches of Eskimos may be, you really must experience this movie to get the real truth of the Eskimo people and realize exactly what they have to go through just to survive day to day.

This film held my interest very well, from the building of an igloo, which I found very interesting, to the plotting and capturing of giant seals and walrus', for sustenance. Robert J. Flaherty is considered the "Father of the Documentary", and what a great father figure for that genre to have, as this was one of the best documentary features I've ever seen.

RATING: 9/10 I deducted one point just because I didn't think this movie really felt like a perfect 10, although it was brilliant and comes with my highest of recommendations, from this day forth.

NEXT UP: Nosferatu, A Symphony of Terror...Expect the review of this one later on tonight.

September 23, 2009 6:58pm