Man of Aran (1934, UK)
In pioneering director Robert Flaherty's semi-staged
(or fabricated) documentary ("docu-fiction") about the
harsh life of survival on Ireland's desolate, weather-beaten, rugged
and barren Aran Islands about 30 miles off Ireland's western coast:
- the close-knit family - viewed dialogue-less (with
over-dubs only) - archetypal characters: fisherman/patriarch -
the 'Man of Aran' (Colman "Tiger" King), his Wife (Maggie
Dirrane), and young Son (Michael Dillane)
- the churning of the thunderous waves that threatened
to drown the villagers
- the portrayal of the gritty and inventive struggle
to grow food without soil, by laying seaweed down on the bare rock
to produce a potato crop (Title-card: "Seaweed - the foundation
of their farm")
- the scene of the boy fishing with a line from towering
cliff faces, when he spotted something, climbed down the rocks, and
stood face to face with the gaping mouth of a great white shark swimming
by in the water (the musical score on the soundtrack suddenly stopped
to emphasis his find)
- the film's centerpiece - the elaborate montage sequence
of the prolonged, two-day boat hunt for a basking shark by harpooning
(to provide lamp oil) - a practice that had actually ended many decades
earlier
- in the conclusion, the incredible storm scenes and
turbulent churning waters, with giant waves threatening to engulf
the fishing boat
Threatened Villagers
Growing Food (Potatoes) Using Seaweed
Fishing on Cliff's Edge
Sighting of Shark