Kabloonak

Robert Flaherty - the 'father' of the documentary, who died in 1951 - sits in a New York bar in 1922 like he's just been treasure hunting in the Sierra Madre. The well-received premiere of Nanook of the North has just prompted Paramount Pictures to offer him money for another movie. Flashback to 1919: in Port Harrison, Hudson Bay, on a snow-stiffened whaler, Flaherty embarks on his three-month trip to film the Eskimo way of life, under circumstances that would have daunted even Scott of the Antarctic. Dance makes Flaherty a fine taciturn hero, and Jacques Loiseleux's (presumably brave) cinematography makes the film a visual feast. Director Massot skirts the contentious issue of exactly what kind of documentary Flaherty was making (faked igloos, stage-managed sexual manners, etc) by concentrating on the man at work - and fascinating work it is.