Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.
So overwhelming is the reputation of NAN00K OF THE NORTH, from 1922, that many histories cite it, incorrectly, as the first documentary ever made.Drawing upon years of experience in northern mining camps and fur-trading posts, Robert Flaherty shot his idea of the daily struggles of a family of Inuits (the "happy-go-lucky Eskimo," as a title card puts it) from the Itimivuit tribe on the northeast coast of Hudson Bay. His nonfiction hero is Nanook (a name translating as "bear"), a well-known hunter in the region.
Opening scene is a timeless attention-grabber: Nanook emerging from what looks like a one-man kayak, only to be followed by his wife Nyla ("the Smiling One"), children, and dog, all somehow impossibly crammed into the tiny vessel. That sets the tone for the activities shown throughout, like seal and walrus hunts and the construction of an igloo, crucial to subsist in the harsh, frozen environment. Flaherty holds back just enough information from the viewer to pose some riddles during the film, and reportedly audiences would break into spontaneous applause upon realizing just what "the finishing touch" on the igloo was.
