Robert J Flaherty. True life
By Orson Welles (“Portrait of Robert Flaherty,” BBC Broadcast, 1952)“I think that if you tried to relate Flaherty to anybody else in films, it would be difficult to do it decisively. I don't see where he fits into films at all, except as being one of the two or three greatest people who ever worked in the medium.”Robert Flaherty
It's strange! Cinema has an exceptional feature: when a man is armed with a camera, he looks at the world as it could be for the first time. The world becomes richer and complete. And you feel delight.
Robert Flaherty (16.02.1884—23.07.1951) is an American director who takes a special place in documentary filmmaking of the XX century. He didn't create his own school, but he started a new turn in the world of documentaries films. In his most famous film, Nanook of the North (1922), Flaherty used ethnographic stuff as the basis to create a profound and ultimate masterwork. He did not separate cinematography form reality. His camera was always a participator in the real life events. His method was to penetrate deep into life. Editing shouldn't destroy reality and shouldn't create it as well, but it should catch and cautiously keep the rhythm of life itself. For Flaherty every shot of a film was a sign and a filigree exactness of an image. In contrast to European documentary film makers, who aimed to actuality, enlightenment and were strongly attracted by publicism, Flaherty was neither a chronicler, nor an exposer. He was idealistic and romantic.
Robert J Flaherty was born in Iron Mountain, Michigan. His father, a miner in the past and a prospector at that time, dragged his son along on his wealth-seeking expeditions. In 1913 the young Flaherty, being exposed to exploring, took a camera when he set out on his first expedition to northern Canada. He shot 35 thousand meters of film recording of Eskimo life, but the film which he planned to sell afterwards was burned in fire.
In 1919 Flaherty returned to North well prepared. He took a 50 thousand dollars credit from a big trading company and bought 2 cameras, a gas heater, laboratory materials and a film projector to control the shooting process. In 1922, after 13 months of living among the Eskimos and many months of editing Nanook Of The North was first shown to public. The film had a great success in the world and made its director famous. “First I was an explorer, and then I became an artist”, said Flaherty “Every folk is noble and the aim of a filmmaker is to find this only chance and even a single movement in which this greatness is showed”.
Nanook Of The North is unique due not only to its content: bright features of primitive life of northern folk mysterious to a civilized world are still impressive in the XXI century, to Flaherty's view on reality. The director succeeded in making the film characters leave a part of their true life on the screen, his images are inspired with the charm of nature. And at the same time Flaherty didn't aim to show all details of Nothern people's life, but he was interested in the latent essence of outwardly simple family scenes. Thanks to his talent he managed to snatch and transfer the special spirit of that people existing in isolation from outside influences. Existing in the reality of different calendars, we have lost the cyclic natural time conscious which was familiar to primordial peoples and when we face this eternal in its evenness rhythm of life, recorded on cinefilm, we can surprisingly feel the breath of eternity.
After the The world success of Nanook Flaherty attracted the attention of Paramount Pictures. “Another Nanook”, Moana of the Polynesians, a high-costing film shot in Polynesia didn't pay for itself, although it strengthened Flaherty's reputation of “an exotics expert”. 24 dollars island (1927) and A potter story (1925) were also unsuccessful. Producers did some attempts to combine Flaherty's works with the works of other directors. So, “White shadows of southern seas” (1931) è “Taboo” (1931) were screened. But a sentimental plot and melodramatic passions were alien to artistic principles of the director.
Invited by the head of documentary filmmaking school John Grierson, Flaherty came to England and after Industrial Britain which he made together with Grierson in 1932, he shot Man of Aran (1934). That film revived his reputation of a documentary poet and was awarded on Venice Film Festival
In 1941 he made The Land for the United States Agricultural Adjustment Agency of the Department of Agriculture. Its ecological pathos was not accepted by the Authorities and the film was forbidden. Flaherty's last documentary, Louisiana Story (1948, awarded by Venice Film Festival), was ordered by an oil company and led the director create a profound and vivid philosophic parable.
To shoot his films, Flaherty traveled to far regions. He didn't show primitive peoples, but a man as he is and the human nature. His characters are taken out of particular social and historical ties and are put in the situation of “face-to-face” relationship with nature. No doubted that Flaherty idealized these people and their way of life. He also managed to show that a man can be happy if he lives in agreement with himself and with visual environment.
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