"Nanuk of the North" is a landmark documentary in the 1920s. In "Nanuk of the North", Flahadi wanted to show the audience a departure from the original picture of life outside the industrial society. In the case of low productivity, human beings are the weak. Humans have to fight against nature, just to survive. Vlahadi is even called an idealist. In order to achieve sufficient "primitive ecology", he even lets fishermen and hunters use the methods of their fathers to hunt, even if they already have more advanced methods. Vlahadi paid attention to concealing the existence of the photographer during the shooting. He narrated the story he wanted to tell objectively and calmly. What he wanted to show the audience was the thing itself, and he wanted the audience to be naturally immersed in the world of his creation. . He gently expressed the thoughts and feelings he wanted to convey to the audience. In the footage of Nanuk and his family getting up in the morning, Flahadi actually cut off the ice in half because the light in the igloo could not be photographed, and shot it in the open air. But when the audience watched this segment, they didn't expect it to be like this. The audience was immersed in the snippet of the Nanuk family getting up normally. Regarding the use of long shots, in the seal hunting section of "Nanuk in the North", Flahadi perfectly grasped the relationship between time and space. This classic long shot stunned the audience's appetite. At the beginning, people didn't know what he was doing for a long time. Gradually, black spots appeared in the distance, and helpers came. After some efforts, they finally realized that it was a seal that had been dragging. This long shot vividly shows the two dramatic elements of suspense and conflict.
During the filming of "Nanuk in the North", in pursuit of authenticity, the primary character of this documentary, Flahadi did not hesitate to let his "old friend" Nanuk use a harpoon to hunt walruses. Under the impact of the western white civilized commercial culture, the Eskimos have long given up the traditional tool harpoon of their ancestors and switched to rifles. In order to cooperate with Vlahadi’s shooting, Nanuk picked up the harpoon, a tool used by his father or grandpa, and actually hunted a walrus. Under Vlahadi’s camera, Nanuk pulled the rope from I pulled something out of an ice cave. I pulled it several times without success. It was even pulled back by something in the ice cave. Try again and again, fail again and again. But Vlahadi would not help him. He hid behind the camera because what he wanted was the truth. Finally, a few companions came from a distance to help pull out the things in the Nanukra Ice Cave. It turned out to be a walrus. Before shooting, Flahadi said to Nanuk: When hunting the walrus, if anything interferes with my shooting plan, I must give up the hunt; remember that I want the shots of your elephants, not them. Meat. Also when photographing the life of a family, in order to pursue reality, Vlahadi asked Nanuk to build a 25-foot Iglu (Eskimo, Ice house). But it was enough for the Eskimos to live in a 12-foot house, and Nanuk did not have such a big house. After a few days, the house collapsed again and again. Every time it collapsed, the companions burst into laughter. But in the end, Nanuk succeeded. Yes, this Eskimo succeeded. And he also made a window out of ice, using the sun's reflection to illuminate it, which is a pioneering work of the Eskimos. When shooting scenes of life in the igloo, the igloo was forced to cut in half. Because there is no lighting, shooting can only be done in the open air. The Nanuk family can only get up in the icy cold wind. The result must be real, real! This is Vlahadi's creed. While being real, he also brought suspense and drama into the record. Of course, in the filming process, in addition to showing the general daily life of the Nanuk family and the hunting of Nanuk alone, there are also some other episodes, such as the process of Nanuk teaching his son to archery. Nanuk used a knife to cut the arrow and gave it to his son, so that his son was too young to shoot, and the arrow fell without shooting it several times. Nanuk showed him hand in hand. The son learned, Nanuk laughed too. It can also be seen from Nanuk's simple and honest smile: As a father, he is passing on the traditions of his ancestors to the next generation. This simple action also conveys the affection between father and son. In addition, one detail is the process in which the whole family went to the white fur collection point to sell the fur of the hunted animals. The family carried a small kayak and climbed over many snow hills before coming to the river. The next shot is a man in Nanuk rowing a raft on the river. The dramatic scene happened after the kayak docked, Nanuk got out of the kayak first, and then the little daughter came out. But the camera did not switch to other parts, still facing the kayak, another little boy came out, and his wife Nora also came out. Here, people can't help but wonder why the small kayak called the Eskimo can carry so many people. Of course, what should be considered more is the creator's intention to record this video. During the entire shooting process, Vlahadi mostly used long lenses (of course, there are also a few partial close-ups), so that people can't feel the presence of the camera, so he quietly observes this person and observes this group of people. They can't see you. You are wearing a cloak, but you can observe them quietly. For theists, the camera is the eyes of God, observing and recording the people living in this land. This creation technique of Flahadi is similar to the direct creation genre in the later period! Or is it possible that the direct creative genre has borrowed from Flahadi's creative techniques. In Flahadi’s first place in the Arctic Sixteen months, all the film was used up, and he was about to leave for home. At this time, Nanuk felt lost and reluctant to give up. Vlahadi pointed to the stone on the river bed beside him and said to his "old friend": "There will be countless people like a stone watching your movie." Indeed, it was later released by EMI, "North "Nanuk" became an instant hit and was shown in many parts of the world. "Nanuk" has also become an iconic term. When ordinary viewers are indulging in the North Pole, which they have never been to or may not be able to go to in the future, what is Flahadi thinking? Of course, his works are by no means just an ordinary member of the polar and African styles that were all the rage at the time. What theme does he want to express? What is the character of thinking in "Nanuk of the North"? Some people think that Vlahadi is a marginal culturalist, isolated from the mainstream white culture, or disgusted with this white business culture, and what he pursues is a kind of business culture that has never been soaked by this white business culture. The purity and nature. The North Pole became his test site and the starting point for his success. Of course, when he came to Harrison Harbor, or before that, the local Eskimos had gradually been assimilated in the process of communicating with whites, and they had absorbed many characteristics of whites, while the characteristics of his own ancestors were gradually being forgotten. And abandonment. This is why Vlahadi insisted that Nanuk pick up the harpoon of his ancestors instead of the shotgun when he was filming and hunting the walrus. And I think Vlahadi still admits the traditional white business culture, but when he lived in Nanuk, an Eskimo, he rejected the prejudice of "big whiteism" of some white creators before. He appreciates the Eskimo culture with an equal attitude, an independent and pure indigenous civilization. Of course, it is simply impossible. The local Eskimos have accepted Western rifles. In "Nanuk in the North", Nanuk turned around curiously at a gramophone to see who it was talking, and when the film was shown among the locals, the natives In the beginning, he yelled at the seal chase on the canvas until the camera was approved later. Vlahadi just stripped the marks of modern civilization from their lives and restored them to their true colors. This is only under the camera. Leaving the camera, Eskimo returns to a life that has been impacted by modern civilization. Vlahadi showed the audience the world where "not everyone wears a suit and leads the festival", but at the same time, he more or less intentionally or unintentionally showed that human society is primitive, barbaric, and uncivilized. Life. In this kind of life, people are constantly suffering from natural plights, hunger, cold, and so on. But as a human being, I didn’t Such an environment succumbed. Instead, he constantly fights against his own destiny, uses wisdom to fight against his destiny, as can be seen from Nanuk building a house, hunting seals, and teaching his son archery and boating. A "Nanuk of the North" is more of a microcosm of human society itself. Whether it is a nomadic tribe in West Asia or a farming nation in the East; whether it is an Eskimo in the primitive Arctic society or a gentleman in a modern Western civilized society, everyone is fighting against fate for survival. Of course, some people will succeed. Some people will fail. The Nanuk family was starved to death due to insufficient food reserves in the following winter. But his story was recorded. Today, there are still people who are "as many as stones" watching his life and thinking about their own lives. After the success of "Nanuk in the North", Flahadi filmed other images reflecting the indigenous people, used the method of swing lens, and created a type of anthropological documentary that uses images to record society. However, none of his later works can surpass the peak of "Nanuk of the North", and "Nanuk of the North" has also become a milestone in documentary history. He also received the honor of the father of documentaries.
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