Man of Aran (1934)

Directed by

Robert J. Flaherty

Genre

documentary film

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

1h 17m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.3 of 10 from 55 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This black-and-white documentary shows a family's daily struggle to survive on a barren Irish island. They fish from cliffs, hunt sharks, and farm in rocky soil, though some scenes were staged for the camera.

visually starkrawawe-inspiringslow-pacedharshearthyprimalcontemplative

What happens

Man of Aran is a 1934 Irish fictional documentary (ethnofiction) film shot, written and directed by Robert J. Flaherty about life on the Aran Islands off the western coast of Ireland. It portrays characters living in premodern conditions, documenting their daily routines such as fishing off high cliffs, farming potatoes where there is little soil, and hunting for huge basking sharks to get liver oil for lamps. Some situations are fabricated, such as one scene in which the shark fishermen are almost lost at sea in a sudden gale. Additionally, the family members shown are not actually related, having been chosen from among the islanders for their photogenic qualities. George C. Stoney's 1978 documentary How the Myth was Made, which is included in the special features of the DVD, relates that the Aran Islanders had not hunted sharks in this way for over fifty years at the time the film was made. Man of Aran is Flaherty's recreation of culture on the edges of modern society, even though much of the primitive life depicted had been left behind by the 1930s. It is impressive, however, for its drama, for its spectacular cinematography of landscape and seascape, and for its concise editing. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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