History Film / NanookOfTheNorth

''Nanook of the North'' was a surprise hit in 1922. It is today regarded as the TropeMaker of the documentary feature film--although [[UnbuiltTrope it isn't really a documentary.]] It was one of the first 25 films placed on the UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry in 1989.

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** Pretty much everything about Nanook's personal life wasn't true. Those two women weren't really his wives. Those children weren't his kids. He did not later die of starvation, as Flaherty's opening title cards claim, but rather he died of natural causes, probably tuberculosis. His name wasn't even "Nanook", it was Allakariallak.

** The igloo that Nanook built was too small and dimly lit for Flaherty to film inside, so the shots supposedly of Nanook's family inside the igloo were filmed in a larger, open structure.

* NobleSavage: Nanook all the way, as he is described as "the kindly, brave, simple Eskimo". At other times the film gets even more condescending, describing the Inuk as "happy-go-lucky" and remarking on how they like to trade for "brightly colored candy" at the trading post.

* UnbuiltTrope: As stated above, much of the movie isn't real or accurate, despite being one of earliest example of a documentary as we know it. Because of this, the film could be considered the UrExample of a {{Mockumentary}}.
* SceneryPorn: Some staggering shots of Hudson Bay and the Canadian Arctic, especially considering that Flaherty was shooting in harsh conditions with heavy, cumbersome 1920s cameras.

''Nanook of the North'' was a surprise hit in 1922. It is today regarded as the TropeMaker and UrExample of the documentary feature film--although it isn't really a documentary. It was one of the first 25 films placed on the UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry in 1989.

[[quoteright:335:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1093d48af76645cf921058c85c430e57.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:335:Learning the bow and arrow.]]

Flaherty's film is the portrait of the life of Nanook, an Inuk living on the northeast shore of Hudson Bay. The film depicts Nanook visiting a trading post, building an igloo, snagging fish through holes in the ice, and hunting for walrus and seal.

''Nanook of the North'' is a 1922 documentary film directed and shot by Robert Flaherty. Flaherty's film is the portrait of the life of Nanook, an Inuk living on the northeast shore of Hudson Bay. The film depicts Nanook visiting a trading post, building an igloo, snagging fish through holes in the ice, and hunting for walrus and seal.

* ClownCar: After Nanook lands his canoe at the trading post, first one wife, then the second wife, and then a dog all get out from the seemingly tiny space inside the canoe. (Actually Flaherty filmed each getting in and out separately.)

** Some sources claim that the most dramatic shot in the film, Nanook's tug-of-war with a seal that he has speared through a hole in the ice, was staged, with some of his comrades pulling at the line from a second hole offscreen.

* SceneryPorn: Some staggering shots of Hudson Bay and the Canadian Arctic, especially considering that Flaherty was shooting in harsh conditions with heavy, cumbersome 1920s cameras.

* EskimoLand: Might be the TropeMaker, and certainly, as noted above under DocumentaryOfLies, perpetuated the idea of Eskimo always wearing parkas and living in igloos and hunting with harpoons and such.

''Nanook of the North'' was a surprise hit in 1922. It is today regarded as the TropeMaker and UrExample of the documentary feature film--although it isn't really a documentary (see DocumentaryOfLies below). It was one of the first 25 films placed on the UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry in 1989.

* DocumentaryOfLies / {{Dramatization}} / ManipulativeEditing: Virtually everything in this film is manipulated or staged for the camera. Flaherty defended his work by stating that he was trying to capture a way of life that was already disappearing. It should be noted that since Flaherty was essentially inventing the documentary film as a concept, the guidelines that documentarians are generally expected to adhere to did not exist at the time. It's also a bit FairForItsDay because this was not long after the age of exhibitions where Native Americans and other "ethnics" living in the country would act like they were living their people's traditional cultures so that whites going to the exhibits could see a visual demonstration of it. Native Americans, for example, would wear clothes their ancestors wore generations ago. At the time, this was the only way people could do more than just read books about old lifestyles, and Flaherty was just following that tradition.
** Pretty much everything about Nanook's personal life wasn't true. Those two women weren't really his wives. Those children weren't his kids. He did not later die of starvation, as Flaherty's opening title cards claim, but rather he died of natural causes, probably tuberculosis. His name wasn't even "Nanook", it was Allakariallak.
** Nanook and his fellow Inuk were far more familiar with Western technology and culture than the film would lead one to believe. By 1920 the Inuk were wearing western clothing, using motor-powered boats, and hunting with firearms. Flaherty insisted they use older, more traditional methods. The events of the film were not spontaneous as the film suggests, but instead staged for Flaherty's camera, although the seals and walruses they hunted were real wild animals. Essentially what the film is really showing is Nanook demonstrating various traditional Inuk customs and survival strategies for Flaherty's camera. The most uncomfortable scene in the movie, where Nanook is introduced to the phonograph and attempts to eat a phonograph record, was also staged, as the real Allakariallak was well aware of what a phonograph was.
** The igloo that Nanook built was too small and dimly lit for Flaherty to film inside, so the shots supposedly of Nanook's family inside the igloo were filmed in a larger, open structure.
** Some sources claim that the most dramatic shot in the film, Nanook's tug-of-war with a seal that he has speared through a hole in the ice, was staged, with some of his comrades pulling at the line from a second hole offscreen.

* ShoutOut:
** Nanook the Eskimo in ''Don't Eat The Yellow Snow'' and ''Nanook Rubs It'' on Music/FrankZappa's ''Music/{{Apostrophe}}'' is a reference to this film.

''Nanook of the North'' was a surprise hit in 1922. It is today regarded as the TropeMaker and UrExample of the documentary feature film. It was one of the first 25 films placed on the NationalFilmRegistry in 1989.

* SceneryPorn: Some staggering shots of Hudson Bay and the Canadian Arctic, especially considering that Flaherty was shooting in harsh conditions with heavy, cumbersome 1920s cameras.

* {{Documentary}}: Not really the first documentary--if a documentary is defined as using film to document RealLife, that goes all the way back to the very first films ever made for public viewing, the micro-short films shot by the Lumiere brothers in 1895. However, ''Nanook of the North'' is probably the first feature-length documentary, and almost surely the first film that resembles a modern documentary, a portrait of real people that tells a story.

* DocumentaryOfLies / {{Dramatization}} / ManipulativeEditing: Virtually everything in this film is manipulated or staged for the camera. Flaherty defended his work by stating that he was trying to capture a way of life that was already disappearing. It should be noted that since Flaherty was essentially inventing the documentary film as a concept, the guidelines that documentarians are generally expected to adhere to did not exist at the time.

''Nanook of the North'' was a surprise hit in 1922. It is today regarded as the TropeMaker and UrExample of the documentary feature film. It has a place on the NationalFilmRegistry.