Banishing the Intruder

Shaelene G. Moler

Prof. Richard Simpson

History and Theory of Documentary Film

23 September 2020

Banishing the Intruder

As I was watching this week’s film Nanook of the North, I was mesmerized by the beauty of it, and was ultimately impressed by it’s craftsmanship. Never being much of a documentary film watcher myself, and having never seen this film before, I was impressed by the so clearly thought out composition of the film. To me, it was obvious that Flaherty put a lot of love, time, and dedication into making this film into what it became. That being said, it was also clear to me that the motivations of this film was strongly fueled by culture and cultural differences. According to the Barnouw chapter, Flaherty wrote in his journal about the goal of Nanook of the North by stating “I am not going to make films about what the white man has made of primitive peoples… What I want to show is the former majesty and character of these people, while it is still possible before the white man has destroyed not only their character, but the people as well. The urge that I had to make Nanook came from the way I felt about these people, my admiration for them; I wanted to tell others about them” (Barnouw 45). Although the film definitely displays this attitude of Flaherty’s by displaying happier, celebratory, fascinating aspects of these peoples’ lives, I could not help but feel there was at least a part or two where this film was prioritizing entertainment.

One of the best examples of this came from the seal hunting scene toward the end of the film. During this scene, Flaherty includes a subtitle that discusses how the smell of a fresh kill attracts wolves. While this is definitely true in real life, it does not feel genuine in this scene due to the fact actual wolves are never pictured, and the characters never display any sense of worry. To me, it feels as though this was made up to intensify the audiences experience when watching the film; especially when the only images of the “wolves” are the dogs used in the sledging which are clearly bound up by straps. In terms of documentary film, this almost cheapened the experience for me, and had me questioning exactly how much of the film was accurate to these people’s lived experiences.

One fascinating thing I had learned in the “How I filmed ‘Nanook of the North’” article was the initial motivations behind filming these people. According to the article, the film was supposed to serve as a way to provide valuable information that might be of enough value to “help in some way defray some of the costs of the explorations” (par. 2). While we know now that the film did bring in a significant amount of income during it’s final/official release in 1922, this fact did have me questioning if the original intent had ever been truly met. 

In closing, I think that Nanook of the North is a valuable cultural piece, and was certainly innovative for it’s time. Now more than ever, it may be culturally relevant as general society is more open to studying, discussing, and sharing differing cultures. That being said, I think that this film is more than worthy of it’s title as one of the best documentary films in history, because of it’s craftsmanship, and the beauty in which it has preserved.