8mm Forum: Nanook of The North (1922)

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Topic: Nanook of The North (1922)

Richard Bock
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 239
From: El Cerrito,CA,USA
Registered: Jan 2010

posted November 03, 2012 10:42 AM

I received a wonderful old batch of Standard 8mm films in a trade with a forum member. I am much appreciative for these wonderful old movies. The first film I viewed was the first reel of Nanook of the North a silent documentary directed by Robert Flaherty. In the face of our current predicament with Arctic melt down and 'civilizations' encroachment, to view this film is sad, as one can see what has been lost. The first pic is of a little baby surrounded by fur pelts and little dog sled puppies. Flaherty stays with this scene for a few minutes. It is a wonderful scene with the cutest baby ever to grace the screen. (correct me if I am wrong [Smile]

.

The second pic is the beginning scene of the Walrus hunt. It is very dramatic with the fleet of kayaks. the team of Eskimos required for the hunt and the methods are filmed in detail. The clothing and kayaks are beautiful to behold all made with primitive methods.The kayaks moving through the ice is exciting. The last picture is an incredible scene where Nanook hears a record for the first time. He is amazed and searches the crank up player for a clue and inspects the 78 rpm record with his teeth.

The print was filthy, and i cleaned it as I think it was in storage since dinosaurs ruled the earth. But once cleaned and lubricated this Blackhawk print is a fine Standard 8mm print for this ground breaking (should I say ice breaking?) documentary.

[ November 28, 2012, 09:56 PM: Message edited by: Richard Bock ]

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Graham Sinden
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1131
From: Kent, UK
Registered: Aug 2005

posted November 03, 2012 12:23 PM

Hi Richard,

As a movie it's very entertaining and shows you how life used to be lived in those conditions.

But you also have to note that the whole film was a fake. For a start Nanook usually uses a gun but Flaherty asked him to use the old hunting methods instead. And Nanooks wife seen in the film was actually Flaherty's wife. Not sure who the child was, but the whole film was contrived a bit to make it an interesting documentary.

If you google the film title you can find a lot more about it.

But as a movie its good entertainment.

Graham S

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Hugh Thompson Scott
Film God

Posts: 3063
From: Gt. Clifton,Cumbria,England
Registered: Jan 2012

posted November 03, 2012 03:41 PM

I believe parts of this film turn up in the film "The Deadly Mantis"
at the beginning.

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Richard Bock
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 239
From: El Cerrito,CA,USA
Registered: Jan 2010

posted November 04, 2012 12:46 AM

Flaherty made another film called Louisiana Story (I have a Blackhawk Super 8 print pictured below) which is a combination of documentary and staged 'documentary' to achieve his aims. In this case it was a boys wanderings in the Bayou. He uses both interview and staged situations, and combines them against the backdrop of the locale. These were not actors but people who did live in these environs. Coupled with the incredible B&W photography is the powerfully inventive score by Virgil Thomson. Nanook may have been 'staged' but there is truth being revealed about the Eskimo, the Arctic and by a logic, our way of life.

In Louisiana Story it is the rude intrusion of oil drillers and their infernal machine. A noisy oil derrick machine monster. Creating wakes in their mad search of oil, turning over the boat of the boy and his pet raccoon amidst the grand natural beauty of the Bayou. The boy takes it all in stride.

[ December 03, 2012, 09:05 AM: Message edited by: Richard Bock ]

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Richard Bock
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 239
From: El Cerrito,CA,USA
Registered: Jan 2010

posted November 28, 2012 01:55 PM

The second reel is 1400 ft Standard 8mm, Blackhawk print.

The fishing scene in the frozen Arctic.

The igloo making sequence goes into detail. Includes a skylight installation

The long shots of the winds blowing the ice and snow cannot really be captured in a still frame but here it is anyway.

The movement of people in this environment is fascinating. Little kid on sled pulled by the cutest sled dog pup ever seen on this earth.

[ December 03, 2012, 09:08 AM: Message edited by: Richard Bock ]

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Dino Everette
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1535
From: Long Beach, CA USA
Registered: Dec 2008

posted November 28, 2012 01:57 PM

Richard great shots... Here is a recommendation you will not regret. Do yourself a favour and find the video or DVD of a film called SOUTH (1920)...It was actually shot over the years 1914-1916 on the Sir Ernest Shackleton expedition and is a great complimentary film to Nanook. Where Nanook is staged yet beautifully shot, SOUTH is breathtakingly real and dramatic.

--------------------
"You're too Far Out Miss Lawrence"

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Richard Bock
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 239
From: El Cerrito,CA,USA
Registered: Jan 2010

posted November 28, 2012 01:59 PM

Thanks Dino for the recommendation on South (1920). it has to be an amazing film. judging by the description I found here-

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0198559/

An exciting document of the 1914-1916 Antarctic exploration mission of Sir Ernest Shackleton.

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Richard Bock
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 239
From: El Cerrito,CA,USA
Registered: Jan 2010

posted November 28, 2012 02:39 PM

The final reel of a Standard 8mm print of Nanook of the North-Robert Flaherty, director. Pics from print being reviewed.

An amazing walrus hunt highlights the last reel:

just Nanook at first with a harpoon hit and he fights off the walrus for a few minutes film time.

with the help of four or five others they succeed but not after an amazing fight by this huge walrus

they eat right there. the dogs are like the Greek chorus of savagery and hunger. Towards the end of the film the Eskimos encourage a fight between the dogs before taking off on sleds. An incredible scene.

The last scenes are of the Eskimo family going to sleep in their igloo. The preparations and final bedding down together with pups nearby. It is fascinating.

In this shot of long duration. the eskimos on the move across the bottom of the frame and above them the vastness of the Arctic.Snow movement from strong winds not captured in a still frame, highlights the terrain and man's place in this unfriendly, seemingly barren environment.

[ December 03, 2012, 09:10 AM: Message edited by: Richard Bock ]

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