“Nanook of the North”, released a century ago, is widely considered to be the first popular feature-length documentary. The problem was that it was staged
, a venerable furrier, sponsored a young film-maker to shoot a movie in the northern reaches of Canada. The company was seeking an innovative and eye-catching way to promote itself, and the director, Robert Flaherty, had previously produced striking footage of the snowy wilds of Belcher Islands. The work that Flaherty delivered for Revillon Frères, “Nanook of the North”, had its premiere a century ago, in 1922.
But what for decades was taken as the ultimate spectacle of raw, filmed reality was in fact closer to historical re-enactment. The extent of the artifice, though well-known today, remains astonishing. Nanook, for starters, wasn’t called Nanook—this was a screen name, given to an Inuk man named Allakariallak. Nanook’s two on-screen wives were not his real-life partners, but two women playing a role.
The film’s legacy, therefore, is a complicated one. Flaherty received invaluable assistance from skilled Inuits, who operated his cameras and provided the knowledge necessary to achieve the film’s re-enactments. “Nanook of the North” has had its admirers in Inuit communities. This year the centenary of the film has been celebrated by the village of Inukjuak where it was set; a statue of Nanook was unveiled as part of the festivities.
Belgique Dernières Nouvelles, Belgique Actualités
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