Looking for a good book, usually at a discount?
Purchasing a book through this link helps support my site. Click on the appropriate line below:

American Indian History Books

American Indian Biography Books

American Indian Studies Books

American Indian Literature Books

Native Peoples of Canada Books

American Indian Cookbooks

"Native Healing" Books

American Indian Music

---

Nanook of the North


I wrote this review in June 2004.



Movie Review: Nanook of the North

I had the opportunity recently to watch a new DVD version of the classic silent film, Nanook of the North. Many of you may not be familiar with the movie, but you may have heard of the title. I recall its' use in the 50s when someone was trying to show their lack of knowledge about things 'up north.' "Who do you think I am, Nanook of the North?"

Nanook of the North was made in 1920 (yes, it is over 80 years old) by Robert Flaherty. Flaherty is often called the father of documentary film-making due to the success of this movie. Flaherty participated in expeditions of northern Canada for Sir William Mackenzie between 1910 and 1916. He took some silent films (there were no 'talkies' then) of the people he lived with for six years, as he called them, Eskimos. While he made a compiled his films of his adventures with this group, it was not a very good film. In fact, it was accidently burned, and Flaherty was only upset about it as the lost of some images. Flaherty returned to the eastern shores of Hudson Bay in 1920. By this time he was more familiar with the operations of cameras, and film-making. Nanook of the North is the reult of this effort.

The film features the day-to-day activities (to use the words of the film) of the family of "Nanook of the North - a story of life and love in the actual Arctic. The film says that Nanook is the chief of the Itivimuits band of Eskimo of Hopewell Sound, North Ungava. His wife, children, and other members of his band hunt, fish, live and love in the cold region.

Much of the film covers their ongoing struggle to find and cloth themselves. The film covers a trip south to the white traders' outpost for suppiles. Nanook traded seven polar bear skins (killed by hand with a harpoon), and other pelts. Nanook and his family fish on the ice floes, hunt for walrus and seals. The film also shows how Nanook creates an igloo in under an hour. An interesting feature of the igloo is the clear ice skylight.

The film shows things as they happened. To quote Flaherty, these are ordinary people, doing ordinary things, just being themselves. What is unique about the film is the subject. The film was shown all over the world. When Nanook died two years later, his passing was noted in newspapers throughout the world. In fact, Flaherty's wife said the Malay (southeast Asia) created a new word meaning strong man: 'Nanook." Nanook went inland to look for deer, and he starved when he could not find any.

The quality of the picture in the Criterion edition of the DVD I saw was very good, especially considering the age of the material. I features a string-instrument score that matches the action, but could get a bit redundant over the course of the entire film.

Here is a link, if you would like to order a copy of the DVD: Click Here

or on my store page at: http://americanindian.net/store.html



You can buy a copy of this movie, through the links below. Click on the title for information, click on "Buy" to order a copy.

---

Click on one of the underlined phrases below to go to that page.

Return to my Reviews Page


Go To "On This Date in North American Indian History" Main Page


Go to the AmericanIndian.Net Store

Reference Sites	Tribal Sites	Art, Music & Photography Sites	General Sites
Personal Home Pages	Language & Web Ring Sites	Miscellaneous Sites	Genealogy & Media Sites
Map Sites	History Sites	PowWow & Events Sites	Biography Sites
Information on Specific Tribes	Commercial Sites	Smaller Link Sites	"Link of the Month" Sites

Click on the drop down menu:

Links Pages Tribal Name Meanings Moons & Calendar Info My Photos My Bio Sleepy Driver Space Program Ancient Ruins Maya Ruins Whale Watching Awards & WebRings CHP Cherokee Info Cherokee Enrollment My Mortgage Company Newsletter Archive AmericanIndian.net Store "Indian Era" Forts Articles I Wrote Photos of Northwest USA Reviews of Books and Movies KUSI TV, my new job My Website's Main Page

or
Click on the image below to go to......

My Website's Home Page	Links: (8,700 and counting)	Tribal Names
Indian Moons	Personal Photos	My Biography
Sleepy Driver	The Space Program	Ancient Ruins in Central America
Maya Ruins in Mexico	Whales	Awards & Webrings
Cherokee Holiday 2001	Cherokee Enrollment	My Newsletters
My Store	California Highway Patrol	Indian Era Forts
Articles I Wrote	Northwestern USA Indian Country	American Indian Museum in D.C. 2004
Movie & Book Reviews	KUSI TV, my other job	Mesa Verde and Utah in 2006
My Mortgage Loan Company	2006 SDSU Powwow	Beach Photos

Sign My Guestbook

View My Guestbook