No doubt there will be many UK film lovers and USA movie lovers also, who have never heard of this first ever Irish documentary film and its equally famous director ? Plus the very illustrious well known English gent Harry Watt, a household name for us Brits that revelled in anything and everything.
Cinema wise ! Watt started as an assistant which was his role on Man Of Aran. He clearly was a quick learner, and I had no idea he worked on this film until now. To make life easier, from here on in lets refer to MOA ! Very soon after this doco, Watt began his fascinating professional role of director .
As for MOA from what I have only read, controversy continues unabated , and likely quite vitriolic !? From an early age I took an interest in docos, such as Nanook of the North plus others and Flaherty has remained a name engraved in my heart and soul since my teenage years. My passion has continued , albeit my viewing today is the first since over 45 years earlier ? I woke up this morning with pulsing Flaherty light bulbs , so had to view again and marvelled , even more appreciatively than 45 years ago , possibly due to my closeness to.an octogenarian life ? The audio was greatly enhanced by h/phones ,albeit the images are as true as has ever been said , a well framed image is worth a thousand words. Narrative wise is precisely that, wise ! One viewing is not enough to really deeply get your head in to fully appreciating ? I will continue viewing on an ad hoc basis, thereby learning and acclimatising my visual senses in perspective to angles, close ups, long shots , mediums , highs and lows .Bearing in mind , i have no idea what equipment was used, although I think it probably unlikely they used cranes or cherry pickers which i assume did not exist in those days ?
Apparently 35mm which meant either Flaherty was as muscular as a gorilla, or was that Harry Watt ? Someone had to be in charge and also focus, lens changes and if 1000 ft. Rolls rewinding and renewing was all a huge undertaking by all IMDB accounts was a fairly small crew .?
Trivia tells us about the required Inuit gent as the oil required for lamps had not been taken for some years and so sadly Islanders had lost that skill !
I have read that an American gent travelled specially to Aran investigating as many details as were remembered by survivors in 1977 ?
In conclusion, I strongly advise all viewers of this film should read all the reviews and also hopefully take some small notice of my comments here ?
Unequivocally and without any reservation, this doco is highly recommended , and truly worth every one of your more than 70 minutes time !
Cinema wise ! Watt started as an assistant which was his role on Man Of Aran. He clearly was a quick learner, and I had no idea he worked on this film until now. To make life easier, from here on in lets refer to MOA ! Very soon after this doco, Watt began his fascinating professional role of director .
As for MOA from what I have only read, controversy continues unabated , and likely quite vitriolic !? From an early age I took an interest in docos, such as Nanook of the North plus others and Flaherty has remained a name engraved in my heart and soul since my teenage years. My passion has continued , albeit my viewing today is the first since over 45 years earlier ? I woke up this morning with pulsing Flaherty light bulbs , so had to view again and marvelled , even more appreciatively than 45 years ago , possibly due to my closeness to.an octogenarian life ? The audio was greatly enhanced by h/phones ,albeit the images are as true as has ever been said , a well framed image is worth a thousand words. Narrative wise is precisely that, wise ! One viewing is not enough to really deeply get your head in to fully appreciating ? I will continue viewing on an ad hoc basis, thereby learning and acclimatising my visual senses in perspective to angles, close ups, long shots , mediums , highs and lows .Bearing in mind , i have no idea what equipment was used, although I think it probably unlikely they used cranes or cherry pickers which i assume did not exist in those days ?
Apparently 35mm which meant either Flaherty was as muscular as a gorilla, or was that Harry Watt ? Someone had to be in charge and also focus, lens changes and if 1000 ft. Rolls rewinding and renewing was all a huge undertaking by all IMDB accounts was a fairly small crew .?
Trivia tells us about the required Inuit gent as the oil required for lamps had not been taken for some years and so sadly Islanders had lost that skill !
I have read that an American gent travelled specially to Aran investigating as many details as were remembered by survivors in 1977 ?
In conclusion, I strongly advise all viewers of this film should read all the reviews and also hopefully take some small notice of my comments here ?
Unequivocally and without any reservation, this doco is highly recommended , and truly worth every one of your more than 70 minutes time !