Nanook Of The North

Saw Nanook Of The North, the sort-of documentary about Eskimo life. I say sort-of documentary because it has the breezy attitude that it is showing or demonstrating, rather than documenting, life in the tundra. This leaves us viewers prey to the mis/preconceptions of '20s society. Then again, the filmmaker spent a year with the family which is subject of this film so perhaps we don't have to be so skeptical. The film has the feel of the Disney nature documentaries of the 50s, with a faint storyline, plenty of editorializing (the film attempts to instill an adoration the savage Eskimo from frame one,) and dodgy usage of footage. Despite my misgivings I still feel I understand life in the arctic a bit better now, so take that for what it's worth. We are also meant to be sort of amused by the curious exploits of Nanook. At one point he is given a gramophone record to inspect. After looking closely at it, he bites it. Do you think that was scripted?

Edit: it was.