Canadian Film Forum

anca · Junior Data inscrierii: 30/Noi/2008 Mesaje: 15

Hi, to everyone!
In the bigging, I would like to say that I really enjoyed the documentary. I've read a lot on this subject, but only now I completely understood what this harsh way of life means. It's man's struggle against nature. Sometimes, man wins, but often nature takes it's tribute. Inuit were nomads, constantly on the move, hunting and fishing and gathering food and other necessities of life. To survive, cooperation and sharing were vital. And Flaherty's documentary shows this in a authentic way. This was, in fact, his intention. So, I think that, first of all, he was a realist. Flaherty was afraid that modern world will conquer the north of Canada, and this way of life will disappear. His suspicions were not far from truth. The end of the documentary on making "Nanook..." shows the contrasts between past and present.
See you next time!

larisa · Junior Data inscrierii: 30/Noi/2008 Mesaje: 7

just like anca, and perhaps the rest of the group, I also enjoyed the documentary. obviously, it was something totally different from what we saw two weeks ago. :-P

you raised the question whether or not, flaherty was a romantic. maybe he was, but i see in him a pragmatic more than a romantic. he knew precisely what his target audience was, and the fact that they were attracted by new and exotic topics. making a documentary about the Inuit was the exemplar recipe to find success. :-D

he presented the story of a people whose life was totally different from what civilised people were used to. worldwide nations were shown what it meant to struggle for life, and how ambitious and perseverent they had to be in order to survive.
the romantic part in flaherty was the way in which he portrayed nanook. perhaps the inuit man he chose was not that extraordinary, but flaherty managed to put him in such a light, so as to făcute an outstanding
man. :-D

larisa · Junior Data inscrierii: 30/Noi/2008 Mesaje: 7

inuit lifestyle and survival

the question that constantly returned to my mind was, how could they eat raw meat. it looked disgusting, honestly. I understand that they do this for good reasons, since it has much more proteins in this form. but still... moreover, how could they survive at such low temperatures?
one cannot but admire such strenght and determination. their creativity and craftsmanship is also amazing. the inuit would make great teachers of ecology and recycling, since they use EVERYTHING they have, and do not discard what we might find useless. since the climate is that harsh, they might be that way as well, but just remember how open and helpful they were with flaherty.
oki, I'll stop here for the moment
but I will be back 8-)

melinda.tindela · Junior Data inscrierii: 04/Dec/2008 Mesaje: 15

Dear Larisa,
how could they not eat raw meat? Wouldn't you eat raw meat, if the alternative was starvation?
How could they eat raw meat and survive low temperatures? They got used to it! :-)

It is a matter of adjustment, I believe. A teacher I once had used to say: "Omul, si spanzurat, dupa ce se obisnuieste, ii place!"
Their culture and way of life is interesting, impressive for us, because we have such different lives from theirs. I am sure, though, that they do not see themselves as we do: strong and full of determination. In the documentary, it is noted that the Inuit were unable to understand why anyone would be interested in seeing a simple iglu, or the way they sleep. For them, this was everyday life.
I'm sorry to say this, but I do not think we are that different from the Inuit. They were creative, they adjusted to the climate, and fought for survival. Didn't we do the same? Weren't we creative? We made planes, and cars...We wore thick clothes in winter and light clothes in summer, and managed to survive differences of 60 degrees Celsius between this seasons(40 degrees in summer, and minus 20 in winter). And we fight to get good jobs, to get enough money, to have enough food in order to survive!!
Maybe I've exaggerated, but I am sure you can see the similarities.
Too much talk. Must rest.
Bye!