― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:44 (nineteen years ago) link
― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:44 (nineteen years ago) link
http://slate.msn.com/id/2102723/
― lovebug starski, Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:44 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― Gear! (Gear!), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― deanomgwtf!!!p%3Fmsgid%3D4581997 (deangulberry), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:47 (nineteen years ago) link
― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:48 (nineteen years ago) link
― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:49 (nineteen years ago) link
oh no, please don't me bring poor Nanook back into another thread. He's tired.
― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:49 (nineteen years ago) link
Yours truly, Mister Obvious
― Mr.Obvious (scott seward), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:51 (nineteen years ago) link
― The Devil's Triad (calstars), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:51 (nineteen years ago) link
― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:53 (nineteen years ago) link
― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:53 (nineteen years ago) link
― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:56 (nineteen years ago) link
If everyone agreed that Nanook was a documentary, pure and simple, then you're right. You could argue that people shouldn't/can't hold Moore to a different standard. But that view of Nanook isn't universal or even a majority.
hstencil, that was in reference to the "it needs to be objective" arguments. "Objectivity" is a lame bogeyman raised by the right to attack Moore, when objectivity is neither necessary nor preferable (documentary without a POV = boring/pointless).
― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 19:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 19:04 (nineteen years ago) link
― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 19:05 (nineteen years ago) link
Reference Library: Encyclopedia
Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index
Documentary filmAn incredibly broad category of cinematic expression, traditionally, the only common characteristic to all documentary films is that they are meant to be non-fiction films. The French used the term to refer to any non-fiction film, including travelogues and instructional videos. The earliest "moving pictures" were by definition documentary. They were single shots, moments captured on film, whether of a train entering a station, a boat docking, or a factory of people getting off work. Early film (pre-1900) was dominated by the novelty of showing an event. These short films were called "actualities." Very little storytelling took place before the turn of the century, due mostly to technological limitations: cameras could hold only very small amounts of film; many of the first films are a minute or less in length.With Robert J. Flaherty's Nanook of the North in 1922, documentary film embraced romanticism; Flaherty went on to film a number of heavily staged romantic films, usually showing how his subjects would have lived 100 years earlier and not how they lived right then (for instance, in Nanook of the North Flaherty does not allow his subjects to shoot a walrus with a nearby shotgun, but has them use a harpoon instead, putting themselves in considerable danger).
Some of Flaherty's staging, such as building a roofless igloo for interior shots, was done to accommodate the filming technology of the time. In later years, attempts to steer the action in this way, without informing the audience, have come to be considered both unethical and contradictory to the nature of documentary film. On the other hand, both the story line and content of any documentary are imposed by the filmmaker.
Amazon.com description:
Editorial ReviewsAmazon.com essential videoRobert J. Flaherty, who wrote, directed, produced, shot, and edited this landmark picture, will forever be remembered as the godfather of documentary filmmaking. While this landmark 1922 production, shot on the northeastern shore of Hudson Bay, isn't a true documentary by contemporary conventions, it remains the first great nonfiction film. With the help of Nanook and his friends and family, Flaherty undertook the mission of re-creating an Eskimo culture that no longer existed in a series of staged scenes. Nanook ice fishes, harpoons a walrus, catches a seal, traps, builds an igloo, and trades pelts at a trading post, all captured by Flaherty's inquisitive camera. Though he presents a "happy" culture bordering on primitive innocence (Nanook and his family were in reality quite westernized), his loving portrait is anything but condescending. Ultimately Flaherty shares his tremendous respect and awe for a culture that has learned to not just survive but thrive in such an inhospitable environment. On a purely visual level the film is a beautiful work of cinema, an understated drama in an austere, unblemished landscape of snow and ice. With unerring simplicity and directness, Flaherty re-creates the details and rhythms of a culture long gone and gives the world a glimpse.
review from Silent Film Sources:
Nanook of the North (1922) R E V I E W 1922. 6 reels. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revillon Freres present NANOOK OF THE NORTH. A story of life and love in the actual arctic. Produced by Robert J. Flaherty F.R.G.S. Pathepicture. Opening title: The mysterious Barren Lands- desolate, boulder-strewn, wind-swept- illimitable spaces which top the world.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Produced for video by David Shepard. Nanook of the North was the first of Robert J. Flaherty's romantic depictions of man's dignified perseverance in combating a malevolent nature. Flaherty is often called "the father of the documentary", and he did make the first theatrical documentary feature with Nanook. But that fact does not do justice to the humanism and the technical brilliance that makes his best works -- Nanook, Man of Aran and Louisiana Story -- beautiful and enduring.
imdb:
Nanook of the North (1922) Directed byRobert J. Flaherty
Writing credits Robert J. Flaherty
Genre: Documentary (more)
Tagline: A story of life and love in the actual Arctic. (more)
Plot Summary: Documents one year in the life of Nanook, an Eskimo (Inuit) and his family. Describes the trading, hunting... (more)
Shall I go on? Googling gets old.
― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 19:06 (nineteen years ago) link
― The Devil's Triad (calstars), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 19:06 (nineteen years ago) link
x-post
An IMDB entry for it says documentary - OK, IMDB also lists Häxan as a doc. Is Häxan a documentary? An Amazon review, a dictionary reference that includes the line "In later years, attempts to steer the action in this way, without informing the audience, have come to be considered both unethical and contradictory to the nature of documentary film."
None of these show a consensus of opinion on Nanook that lets you use it and its methods as a standard. (Because that consensus does not exist.)
― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 19:10 (nineteen years ago) link
I think your error is in assuming that a documentary is about accounting history. Documentary != history book.
― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 19:14 (nineteen years ago) link
― deanomgwtf!!!p%3Fmsgid%3D4581997 (deangulberry), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 19:17 (nineteen years ago) link
― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 19:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― The Devil's Triad (calstars), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 19:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 19:27 (nineteen years ago) link
I'm reminded of how effective this whole embedded journalist thing worked during the war's early stages... lame ass FOX reporters felt the espirit de corps and wouldn't report anything negative... they became buddies with the soldiers.
(And my point is....?)
― andy, Tuesday, 22 June 2004 19:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 19:40 (nineteen years ago) link
― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 19:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 19:57 (nineteen years ago) link
― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 20:04 (nineteen years ago) link
― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 20:10 (nineteen years ago) link
― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 20:18 (nineteen years ago) link
― morris pavilion (samjeff), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 20:24 (nineteen years ago) link
i am really dreading seeing this movie.
― g--ff (gcannon), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 21:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 21:57 (nineteen years ago) link
J. Hoberman
a) does he mean Garth out of Wayne's World? b) if so, what's he on about?c) and you know what the worst part is? I never learned to read.
― Enrique (Enrique), Thursday, 24 June 2004 13:56 (nineteen years ago) link
― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 24 June 2004 14:56 (nineteen years ago) link
No other reviews "noticed this" because he left off the last part of the reporter's statement - "it must be avenged, or at least punished." (something to that effect)
― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Friday, 25 June 2004 15:30 (nineteen years ago) link
No Country for Old Men > better than There Will Be Blood, Zodiac
The Coen brothers hauntingly mythologize Americana, while P.T. Anderson and David Fincher make it morbid, sadistic and self-congratulatory.
― and what, Thursday, 17 January 2008 19:43 (sixteen years ago) link
o_O
zodiac >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> no country for old men (which i loved)
― and what, Thursday, 17 January 2008 19:44 (sixteen years ago) link
yes
― omar little, Thursday, 17 January 2008 19:44 (sixteen years ago) link
armond's line that morbs quoted in the "there will be blood" thread was some all-time hilarity
Plainview is the most remarkable movie performance since Eddie Murphy’s Norbit trifecta.
― dmr, Thursday, 17 January 2008 19:50 (sixteen years ago) link
zodiac >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> no country for old men (which i loved)>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>there will be blood (which i really really liked)
― Alex in SF, Thursday, 17 January 2008 19:52 (sixteen years ago) link
zodiac was not that good ..... the first half, maybe
― dmr, Thursday, 17 January 2008 19:53 (sixteen years ago) link
i dont like pt anderson but i wanna see there will be blood
― and what, Thursday, 17 January 2008 19:54 (sixteen years ago) link
Almost fitting that they'll chase it down with the decapitations of Thanksgiving, really
― Wack Snyder (Eric H.), Friday, 5 January 2024 16:39 (five months ago) link
Eli Roth has made the first movie to evoke J6, not shying away from how national chaos was distorted and misunderstood by mainstream corporate media.
if I hold up this sentence in front of a mirror will it make more sense or
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 5 January 2024 16:41 (five months ago) link
the closer you were to get to understanding that, the more I'd worry about you
― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Friday, 5 January 2024 22:16 (five months ago) link
Pairing Asteroid City with Past Lives is so ridiculous, it's intriguing. It's also ridiculous.
― clemenza, Friday, 5 January 2024 22:46 (five months ago) link
(I won't even get into his valuation of their relative worth.)
― clemenza, Friday, 5 January 2024 22:58 (five months ago) link
A little disappointed he didn't have Sound of Freedom > Zone of Interest or Chicken Run II or something...
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 6 January 2024 00:15 (four months ago) link
Super Mario Bros. > Occupied City
― underwater as a compliment (Eazy), Saturday, 6 January 2024 08:20 (four months ago) link
Lady Ballers > Orlando, My Political Biography
― Wack Snyder (Eric H.), Saturday, 6 January 2024 15:15 (four months ago) link