Nanook of the North (1922)
Average Rating: 8.7/10
Reviews Counted: 22
Fresh: 22 | Rotten: 0
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 0
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Average Rating: 3.8/5
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Movie Info
Nanook of the North is regarded as the first significant nonfiction feature, made in the days before the term "documentary" had even been coined. Filmmaker Robert Flaherty had lived among the Eskimos in Canada for many years as a prospector and explorer, and he had shot some footage of them on an informal basis before he decided to make a more formal record of their daily lives. Financing was provided by Revillion Freres, a French fur company with an outpost on the shores of Hudson Bay. Filming
Jun 11, 1922 Wide
Jan 26, 1999
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Cast
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Berry Kroeger
spoken by -
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All Critics (22) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (23) | Rotten (0) | DVD (2)
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.
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.
These characters are plainly 'playing' themselves, and scenes such as the igloo-building manifest a sage grace and skill.
Top CriticNanook is one of the most vital and unforgettable human beings ever recorded on film.
Excellent early documentary has some hunting violence.
absolutely brilliant
That it wasn't exactly accurate does not obscure its importance as a cinematic milestone and a depiction of a vanishing way of life.
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.
Flaherty's classic, influential documentary still fascinates.
Além de ser um fascinante retrato da árdua vida dos esquimós, este clássico ainda deve ser lembrado por ter praticamente originado o gênero documentário.
It was so well made that it still works today.
While still criticized for its creative distortions, Flaherty's groundbreaking documentary of Eskimo life is among the most important films of the silent era.
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.
Nanook of the North is considered to be the first documentary ever made and is a truly joyous film experience.
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.
Audience Reviews for Nanook of the North
Super Reviewer
Most parts of the family's life is on display...eating, hunting, play and sleeping all play a part in this film. Particularly fascinating is the footage on building an igloo from blocks of packed snow, including a "window" made from clear ice. They even made a tiny igloo for a litter of puppies! One humorous scene shows Nanook, the head of the family, getting out of a kayak, with his entire family -- wife Nyla, another woman (mom, sister?), three children and a dog following right behind. Funny because they all crawled out of the bottom of a boat that appeared to hold only one person.
If this film has any flaws, it's that I wanted to know more about these people and their lives. What were their clothes made of? Where did they go to the bathroom? What language did they speak? Did the children go to school?
One cautionary note: There are several scenes of apparent cruelty to animals, including sled dogs left out in brutally cold weather, and graphic scenes of hunting and butchering animals, and the eating of raw animal flesh.
A fascinating film that hasn't lost its power even after nearly 90 years.
Super Reviewer
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Foreign Titles
- Nanuk der Eskimo (DE)
- Nanook of the North (UK)
