2005 Christopher, Robert J. Robert and Frances Flaherty: a Documentary Life, 1883-1922. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's UP, 2005.

 

Robert and Frances Flaherty: A Documentary Life encompasses a major, scholarly effort as it thoroughly explores the life and career of Robert and Frances Flaherty and the connection between Far North and early cinema. This book contains the most recent efforts to reassess Flaherty's biography. Robert Christopher draws from, and reflects on, the unpublished diaries of Robert and Frances Flaherty, in order to provide a more detailed biography. This text is unique in its approach to Robert Flaherty's achievements as it directly connects them to the influence of his wife, Frances Flaherty. It emphasizes her immense contributions to Flaherty's artistic growth in what Christopher calls, "their remarkable and often turbulent artistic partnership." Christopher inverts the conventions of previous biographical approaches by emphasizing Flaherty’s career before the release of Nanook, rather then disregarding it as insignificant. In the words of its author, this work "seeks not only to rectify the typical approach to the Flaherty biography but also to address the forty-year hiatus in biographical studies of Robert and Frances."

1997 Rothman, William. "Nanook of the North." Documentary Film Classics. New York: Cambridge UP, 1997.

In the first chapter of Documentary Film Classics, Rothman applies the study of Nanook of the North to a broader investigation of the distinction between "fiction films" and "documentaries." He addresses the complications posed by Flaherty's treatment of his subjects - such as his inclination towards staged performances and invention of compelling scenarios for a heightened dramatic-affect - to the documentary genre. Rothman identifies Nanook of the North as an oversimplification of the complexities within the social structures of the Eskimo culture. By focusing on the moral threat that is inherent in Flaherty's approach to filmmaking, this chapter provides an important alternative for interpreting the film and its depiction of the "real."

1996 Grace, Sherrill. "Exploration as Construction and Nanook of the North." Essay on Canadian Writing 59 (Fall 1996): 123-46.

 

In this essay, Sherrill responds to Lisa Bloom’s, Gender on Ice: American Ideologies of Polar Expeditions. Grace attempts to provide a counter-analysis by critically examining the making and marketing of Nanook of the North, within the wider case of Flaherty. She approaches the analysis by considering ‘three overlapping, interconnected, and discursive formations: (1) the North, (2) the conflation of Canada and United States represented by Flaherty and his film, and (3) film history and genre.’ Grace concludes that these discourses contribute to the influence and longevity of Nanook, “and together reinforce and validate a colonizing, racist construction of the North that constitutes a white American masculinist semiotic of exploration.” This essay is important for its thorough and well-constructed argument in defense of the subject and his work.

1993 Bloom, Lisa. Gender on Ice: American Ideologies of Polar Expeditions. American Culture IO. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1993.

Bloom constructs the image of Flaherty as an ‘imperialist, nationalist, masculinist, and a racist.’ She asserts that while the public image of Flaherty is often associated with the American “self-explorer hero” and a discoverer of the North Pole, such fictitious concepts are constructed in part by self-proclamations made by Flaherty and by organizations such as the National Geographic. This body of work provides a valuable antithesis to common inclination towards over-glamorization of Flaherty’s image, thus opening a field of debate surrounding this topic.

1988 Barsam, Richard. The Vision of Robert Flaherty. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988.

The Vision of Robert Flaherty, is noteworthy for its analysis of Flaherty in relation to: ‘his time, the nature of his creativity, his cinematic practices and methods, the films themselves, and the significance of his “oeuvre” in the evolution of non-fiction film.’ While this work does not include biographical information, it provides a critical assessment of Flaherty’s approach and achievements. In this scholarly effort, Barsam attempts to demonstrate that Flaherty and his work inform each other and intertwine into his creative cannon. Barsam partially achieves this by identifying reoccurring motifs in Flaherty’s work. He presents an original interpretation by inferring that Flaherty’s search for a unique voice of artistic expression is more valuable then its discovery.

1984–(5) Winston, Brian. “The White Man’s Burden: The Example of Robert Flaherty.” Sight and Sound 54.1 (Winter 1984-5): 58-60.

 

In “The White Man’s Burden,” Brian offers a major criticism of Flaherty’s work by providing a number of compelling arguments in opposition to common assumptions of Flaherty’s contributions to the genre. Among these arguments is the underlining concern for a lack of social consciousness and critical perspective in Flaherty’s work. Brian rejects the assessment of Flaherty as the father of documentary film and proclaims that his manner of working and treatment of his subjects “casts a pall over the entire documentary tradition and is among the major factors in documentary’s flawed methodological and theoretical foundations.”

1983 Rotha, Paul. Robert J. Flaherty: A Biography, ed. Jay Ruby, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983.

This book was written by one of Flaherty’s contemporaries, who had worked with Flaherty in the 1930’s during his affiliation with John Grierson’s efforts to develop the British documentary school. Its editor, Jay Ruby, asserts that the value of this filed study lies in its presentation of the life and work of an American “film pioneer” from the perspective of a leader of the British documentary film movement who was well acquainted with Flaherty for most of his professional life. The manuscript for this book was authored twenty years before being published and it was the primary source for Arthur Calder-Marshall’s, The Innocent Eye, which is the most often referenced book on Flaherty. The majority of scholarship-predecessors and popular press surrounding Flaherty, expressed an impulse towards the two extremes: (1) ‘portraying him in mythical terms, or (2) diminishing the significance of his films by declaring them “fakes and frauds” and castigating him for a lack of social and political consciousness.’ While Robert J. Flaherty: A Biography ignores Flaherty’s pre-Nanook activities as photographer and filmmaker, it reevaluates and neutralizes the two extremes by providing a coherent and invaluable analysis. Richard Barsam, the author of The Vision of Robert Flaherty, suggested that, “Paul Rotha and Jay Ruby contributed a more reliable biography than that of Arthur Calder-Marshall.”

1980 Danzker, Jo-Anne B. ed. Robert Flaherty. Photographer/Filmmaker: The Inuit 1910 – 1022. Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1980.

 

This source comprises a compilation of previously unknown and inaccessible Arctic photographs made by Flaherty. Jo-Anne Birnie Danzker showed interest in the “excavation” of Flaherty’s Arctic photographs, the information about his 1916 pre-Nanook film, and the archival material pertaining to Flaherty’s life, at a time when most scholars disregarded their potential significance. This interest flourished into a vastly seminal effort to organize and exhibit Flaherty’s photographs at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Jay Ruby suggested that Danzker’s exhibition is largely responsible for the interest growth in Flaherty’s life and work.

 

1980 Ruby, Jay. “Reexamination of the Early Career of Robert Flaherty.” Quarterly Review of Film Studies 5 (Fall 1980): 431-58.

 

This article contributed to an increased effort towards a more extensive and dynamic approach to the study of Flaherty’s films. Ruby declares that a film analysis that fails to consider its wider context is insufficient. He elaborated by insisting that in order to provide a constructive examination of Flaherty’s work one must first understand the creator, the conditions for the process of production, and the conditions of consumption. However, Jay Ruby’s primary goal is to reassess three aspects in the production of Nanook of the North. One of these is Flaherty’s manipulation of the narrative form, which Ruby argues exemplifies his skillful ability to apply “sophisticated understanding of narrative devices and a knowledge of the existing film style and possibilities.” The second argument deals with the relationship of artistic forces and commerce in Flaherty’s career. Here Ruby asserts that by convincing Revillon Freres to financially support the production of Nanook, Flaherty set a precedent for other companies to invest in independent film artists. Flaherty’s field production methods make up the final focus of Ruby’s examination. Ruby defends the choice for staged performances by suggesting that they enabled the Inuit people to actively participate in the production process by reviewing and constructively criticizing their own performances.

1978 How the Myth Was Made. Dir. George Stoney. Perf. George Stoney. DVD. Films Incorporated, 1978.

In the documentary, How the Myth was Made, George C. Stonley revisits the Aran Isles and addresses the impact of Flaherty’s Man of Aran on the people who still inhabit this territory. Stoney’s study provides a retrospective evaluation of the mythological conceptions surrounding Flaherty’s films. It attempts to evaluate Flaherty’s approach to Man of Aran and to “weigh the consequences of what happens when life becomes myth.” It includes compelling interviews with people voicing their frustrations regarding Flaherty’s misrepresentation of their struggle and his exploitation of their labour and resources. This assessment of the misevaluation of the accuracy and ‘factuality’ of Flaherty’s film embodies a valuable reexamination of his work, while further contributing to the process of demystification of Flaherty as a legend. How the Myth Was Made also provides insight into the production process of Man of Aran.

1978 Murphy, William T, Robert Flaherty: A Guide to References. Boston: G.K. Hall and Co, 1978.

Jay Ruby recommends this book as an excellent guide to the exploration of the history of scholarship surrounding Flaherty. “It is a critical and annotated examination of works published by and about Flaherty.” Ruby identifies this source as invaluable to his own creative process. Upon consideration of the long list of entries included in this body of work, it becomes apparent that Flaherty’s life and career attracted significant attention. Richard Barsam praised this book for its objective approach to the material. Robert Flaherty: A Guide to References is among the most commonly cited sources and it remains to be the only major publication devoted to the organization of scholarship on Flaherty, in the form of an annotated bibliography.

1971 Jacobs, Lewis, comp. The Documentary Tradition: From Nanook to Woodstock. New York: Hopkinson and Blake, 1971.

This book embodies the first substantive attempt to reflect on the development of documentary. It aims to “define the convention that came to be called ‘documentary’; to trace its growth and its major exponents; to provide analyses and interpretations of the classic and transitional achievements; to indicate the carried trends; and to offer and insight into the present state of documentary.” It includes important articles such as Robert Sherwood’s, “Robert Flaherty’s Nanook of the North” (1922), Ricciotto Canudo’s, “Another View of Nanook” (1927), and “Flaherty’s Poetic Moana” by John Grierson (1926). This provocative combination provides examples of conflicting reception of Flaherty’s films. Sherwood proclaimed Nanook of the North to be one of the greatest films ever made, due to its educational value and treatment of narrative form. He elaborated by suggesting, “here was drama rendered far more vital than any trumped-up drama could ever be by the fact hat it was all real.” Ricciotto Canudo, on the other hand, criticizes the film’s endorsement of the French fur company. He assets that “here, ‘reportage’ and ‘documentary’ have ventured so far into space and into reality that a true tragedy has spontaneously taken shape into the magic of celluloid.” In a refreshing departure from such passionate debates, Grierson provides a more poetic approach to the analysis of Flaherty’s work. “Flaherty’s Poetic Moana” is a commonly referenced review that is considered to have “given currency” to the term “documentary” for the first time. Grierson concludes by claiming that “Moana is lovely beyond compare”, after repeatedly referring to it as being beautiful and poetic.

1. Calder-Marshall, Arthur. The Innocent Eye: The Life of Robert J. Flaherty. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1963.

 

Calder-Marshall recast the original typescript, based on research material by Paul Rotha and Basil Wright, from a biographical film history into an exploration of the life and art of Robert Flaherty. While some scholars criticize Calder-Marshall for being too vague and unreliable in his study – and he overtly admits to having to rely on “intuition alone” as basis for some of his claims – this body of work is one of the most commonly cited. The Innocent Eye: The Life of Robert J. Flaherty provides a brief background overview of Flaherty’s pre-Nanook life before it delves into a well-structured, yet brief description of his films. It is considered “the standard biographical study that best reflects specifically the British period of Flaherty’s life (1931-1939).”

1960 Flaherty, Frances. Odyssey of a Film-maker. Urbana: Beta Phi Mu, 1960.

 

This constitutes one of many texts written by Robert Flaherty’s wife, Frances. This particular work was conceived out of numerous talks given by her. While the nature of such material is undoubtedly biased, its value lies in the extremely intimate perspective it offers to the readers. By giving a voice to a figure that “shared the triumphs and frustrations of his creative years”, this intimacy places Flaherty’s achievements within a unique context. In Odyssey of a Film-Maker, Frances attempts to dispel some of the myths surrounding her husband by clarifying that the documentary movement was fathered by Grierson and not Flaherty. She elaborated by suggesting that while the preconceived notions of documentary centered on educational and propagandistic purposes, Flaherty’s work is ‘timeless’ because it is untainted by such motivations.

1953 Griffith, Richard. The World of Robert Flaherty. New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce, 1953.

This publication has been referred to as “more an anthology than a consistent scholarly study.” In the composition of his analysis, Griffith heavily relies on excerpts from Flaherty’s personal journals and notes. William T. Murphy both criticizes Griffith’s book for its lack of ‘critical synthesis’ and acknowledges it as being a major study of Flaherty. Griffith characterizes his approach as a search for the “soul and spirit” of Flaherty’s work, rather then the study of its formal elements. He abandons the evaluation of Flaherty’s contributions to the documentary genre in exchange for an enhanced exploration of Flaherty’s experiences in the pursuit of his craft. This source remains a valuable aid in the study of Flaherty’s life and career from a humanist perspective rather then a cinematic one.

1922 Flaherty, Robert J. “How I Filmed Nanook of the North.” The World’s Work (Fall 1922): 553-60.

This illustrated article is one of many publications authored by the subject, Robert J. Flaherty. It offers insight into the making of Nanook of the North from the subjective perspective of its maker. Flaherty begins by addressing the events surrounding the discovery of the Belcher Island, where Nanook was shot. The article is structured in an anecdotal fashion, while providing accounts of many obstacles associated with filming in rough environmental conditions. “How I Filmed Nanook of the North” is often referred to in studies related to the production aspect of this film.