These characters are plainly 'playing' themselves, and scenes such as the igloo-building manifest a sage grace and skill.
Comment
01/26/06
Nanook of the North (1922)
100 %
Reviews Counted: 20 Fresh: 20 Rotten:0 Average Rating: 8.7/10
Runtime: 79 mins
Synopsis: This classic film by Robert Flaherty, shot in 1922, documents one year in the life of Nanook, an Inuit hunter and his family as they struggle to survive in the harsh conditions of Canada's Hudson Bay region. Without the use of dialogue, this piece describes the trading, hunting, fishing and... [More]
Genre: Education/General Interest
Reviews
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Top Critic
Although in some scenes it's pretty obvious that igloos have been constructed by the set designer rather than the Eskimos, there's a real beauty and an authenticity that renders these details insignificant.
05/24/03
Top Critic
Flaherty wasn't much of an ethnologist -- he routinely staged scenes for his camera and insisted that his subjects return to traditions they'd abandoned generations before -- yet he was a master dramatist.
01/22/08
By virtue of its timeless setting and straightforward approach to its subject, this portrait of the daily lives of an Eskimo man and his family is probably the least dated of any silent film extant.
01/22/08
Top Critic
Despite the comparatively primitive technique and the natural difficulties of shooting a film in the frozen Hudson Bay wastelands, every minute of Nanook lives up to its reputation.
01/22/08
Top Critic
Nanook is one of the most vital and unforgettable human beings ever recorded on film.
01/20/06
Top Critic
Além de ser um fascinante retrato da árdua vida dos esquimós, este clássico ainda deve ser lembrado por ter praticamente originado o gênero documentário.
05/09/05
While still criticized for its creative distortions, Flaherty’s groundbreaking documentary of Eskimo life is among the most important films of the silent era.
09/03/04
Nanook's life, mainly concerning the perpetual quest for food as his family teeters on starvation, doesn't offer a lot of variety, but blisteringly real images like this don't come along any more these days.
05/02/04
Nanook of the North is considered to be the first documentary ever made and is a truly joyous film experience.
02/20/04
'Flaherty gives us an intimate peek into Inuit culture, allowing insights into a truly happy people without requiring that we freeze our asses off'
08/16/02
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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