"Eskimo" is a very unusual film. In many ways, it's a nice cultural documentary showing the lives of these First Peoples*. You see them going about their everyday lives, hunting for walrus, making friends, doing chores and the like. A few scenes are obviously staged in front of rear projected footage but most are not. However, MGM decided not to simply make a standard documentary but created a story within the documentary....a story about how their happy way of life is affected by contact with the outside world.
A few pieces of footage might surprise or shock you. In an opening montage, you see a woman breastfeeding....something you never would have seen had the film come out a year later, after the toughend Production Code was put into effect. Likewise later in the film when there is STRONGLY implied sex as well as a rape...something you just wouldn't have seen or heard about a year later in an American movie. You also see animals being killed and butchered...which, though seemingly distasteful to watch IS the way these folks have lived and I appreciate how it was not sanitized. I also appreciate how they speak their native tongue...and the film has captions showing in English what they are saying. These all help to add to the realism of their portrayal in the movie.
Mala is a native whose wife begs him to take her many miles to see the men who live in 'a house that floats' (a boat). She wants metal needles. However, the trade with the white men isn't completely satisfactory to Mala, though Aba sure seemed EXTREMELY happy about this. Why? Because part of the trade involved Aba staying the night with the Captain...and he showered her with trinkets in exchange for sex. The IMDB summary seems to say this isn't what occurred...that Mala was promised Aba would not sleep with him, though she is topless in the man's cabin and remained there all night!
Later, after an amazingly insane looking whale hunt where the men managed to kill one of the creatures using very rudimentary materials, the folks all began celebrating along with the crew of the ship. However, the white men behave abominably and Aba is raped (again, shocking stuff for 1933) and accidentally killed! What's next for Mala the rest of his people? plenty! See the film to see what happens to them.
This bittersweet film has some amazing cinematography and it's quite lovely to look at...especially in how they show the women. Considering the conditions in which it was films, this is pretty amazing and commendable. I do wonder how authentic all the native behaviors and actions are...particularly since they are being filmed.
Overall, this is an exceptionally unique film...and I cannot recall having seen anything quite like it. Extremely well made and compelling from start to finish...and with some amazing scenes you won't forget (such as the whale hunt as well as the Caribou stampeding).
*The term 'Eskimo' has been used by the natives of Alaska to refer to all these First People...both there and in Canada and Greenland. However, many politically correct folks dislike the term and find it derogatory. I don't want to get in the middle of it and just want folks to be nice to each other.
A few pieces of footage might surprise or shock you. In an opening montage, you see a woman breastfeeding....something you never would have seen had the film come out a year later, after the toughend Production Code was put into effect. Likewise later in the film when there is STRONGLY implied sex as well as a rape...something you just wouldn't have seen or heard about a year later in an American movie. You also see animals being killed and butchered...which, though seemingly distasteful to watch IS the way these folks have lived and I appreciate how it was not sanitized. I also appreciate how they speak their native tongue...and the film has captions showing in English what they are saying. These all help to add to the realism of their portrayal in the movie.
Mala is a native whose wife begs him to take her many miles to see the men who live in 'a house that floats' (a boat). She wants metal needles. However, the trade with the white men isn't completely satisfactory to Mala, though Aba sure seemed EXTREMELY happy about this. Why? Because part of the trade involved Aba staying the night with the Captain...and he showered her with trinkets in exchange for sex. The IMDB summary seems to say this isn't what occurred...that Mala was promised Aba would not sleep with him, though she is topless in the man's cabin and remained there all night!
Later, after an amazingly insane looking whale hunt where the men managed to kill one of the creatures using very rudimentary materials, the folks all began celebrating along with the crew of the ship. However, the white men behave abominably and Aba is raped (again, shocking stuff for 1933) and accidentally killed! What's next for Mala the rest of his people? plenty! See the film to see what happens to them.
This bittersweet film has some amazing cinematography and it's quite lovely to look at...especially in how they show the women. Considering the conditions in which it was films, this is pretty amazing and commendable. I do wonder how authentic all the native behaviors and actions are...particularly since they are being filmed.
Overall, this is an exceptionally unique film...and I cannot recall having seen anything quite like it. Extremely well made and compelling from start to finish...and with some amazing scenes you won't forget (such as the whale hunt as well as the Caribou stampeding).
*The term 'Eskimo' has been used by the natives of Alaska to refer to all these First People...both there and in Canada and Greenland. However, many politically correct folks dislike the term and find it derogatory. I don't want to get in the middle of it and just want folks to be nice to each other.