MovieChat Forums > Le dernier trappeur (2004) Discussion > Reminds me of Nanook of the North

Reminds me of Nanook of the North

posted 16 years ago by kjetil-30
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I couldn't help thinking about Robert Flaherty's film 'Nanook of the North' from 1922.

The films are similar in several ways; here is another staged documentary about the hardness of the life of a nature's man and his wife in the North. A bit too staged at times - like the close-up of the driver when he hits Norman's dog with his car. But staging dramatic events was exactly what Flaherty did too. So the director is really only following in Flaherty's footsteps, so to speak ;-)

Nice touch - intentionally or not - that the name of Norman's was Nanook ;-)

[–] poho 15 years ago

yes I agree. Its an interesting mix. part drama, part doc. someone asked why he put his sled into the water, but obviously this was all presented as "what could happen" or "what has happened" over the course of his life, possibly ten years ago that happened or five years ago he lost his dog, etc. I would consider this as part of the new cinema, in that the only rule is, there are NO rules (as long as it has a value - whether entertainment, point-of-view or stimulates thought while holding interest) as opposed to the old cinema like Nanook where he felt he had to hide behind presenting 'reality' while faking it. This would be along the lines of an autobiographical novel or what Kosinski called, "auto-fiction" where we know its a fake set-up that might have been true before or could be true.

But yes, I did want to feel it a little more grounded in reality, a touch more. Like for example the cut-a-way to the guy (while Norm was talking on the CB radio) in the other cabin was absolutely bad and the close-up of the driver as you mentioned, where for a moment I though I was in a very very cheap tv show, instead of a sweeping view of life in the north.