I see reviews for almost nothing but fiction all the time, or at least scripted movies. I generally don't watch that many documentaries, but I will make an exception if the documentary is truly significant in some way. I have decided to review this because it was the first feature length documentary ever made. Very few documentaries are box office successes so they're forgotten by most movie goers. Movies based on true stories are not documentaries as they are still scripted, but yes, they should be taken more seriously than those not based on facts. Documentaries are the most important of them all, at least in terms of making a difference in our everyday lives. I have done research and found that some of the stuff is in fact staged.
The director changed some names, but honestly that's not a big deal at all. The film depicts the Eskimos hunting with spears, even though they used guns. Perhaps the film's most memorable sequence, the building of the igloo was from people who knew what a house was. Of course, I'm not sure if they exactly lived in one. Whereas most documentaries want to cause change in some way, this was not one of them. Almost all the films that don't do this are nature documentaries. I have in fact seen a lot of those. Wild animals are in fact featured in this, albeit being hunted. I guess I have a certain fondness for walruses.
The camera work in this film is superb and it truly is a unique experience. What's great about documentaries is that they are about so many different topics as they truly illustrate how amazing the real world is. It was weird to see a silent documentary film. There isn't much color in these places, so I'm not complaining about it being in black and white. I will always appreciate how it still took a lot of work to make this and the results were very entertaining. It's probably this film that gives us most depictions of Eskimos. I mean, the people being filmed certainly seem like they're having fun and it is a movie that film buffs must check out, even those who ignore non-fiction. ***1/2 out of ****.
The director changed some names, but honestly that's not a big deal at all. The film depicts the Eskimos hunting with spears, even though they used guns. Perhaps the film's most memorable sequence, the building of the igloo was from people who knew what a house was. Of course, I'm not sure if they exactly lived in one. Whereas most documentaries want to cause change in some way, this was not one of them. Almost all the films that don't do this are nature documentaries. I have in fact seen a lot of those. Wild animals are in fact featured in this, albeit being hunted. I guess I have a certain fondness for walruses.
The camera work in this film is superb and it truly is a unique experience. What's great about documentaries is that they are about so many different topics as they truly illustrate how amazing the real world is. It was weird to see a silent documentary film. There isn't much color in these places, so I'm not complaining about it being in black and white. I will always appreciate how it still took a lot of work to make this and the results were very entertaining. It's probably this film that gives us most depictions of Eskimos. I mean, the people being filmed certainly seem like they're having fun and it is a movie that film buffs must check out, even those who ignore non-fiction. ***1/2 out of ****.