Les Esquimaux

Nothing is more satisfying than to sit in a comfortable theatre, watching people freezing in the wilderness or parched, struggling through the desert. Probably inspired by Robert Flaherty's mega-hit silent, "Nanook of the North" (1922), "Eskimo" is very entertaining and involving: the portrait of the natives, their kindness and generosity is unforgettable. Their plight at the hands of exploitive, racist white people served as a template for many future western movies and TV shows. We're very grateful for this vivid portrait of these wonderful people and a world gone by.

The arrival of White Men in Arctic Canada challenges the freedom of a fearless ESKIMO hunter.

W. S. Van Dyke, MGM's peripatetic director, was responsible for this fascinating look at life in the Arctic among the Inuit. His production was on location filming from April 1932 until November 1933 (although some annoying rear projection effects show that some of the shooting took place back at the Studio). While considered a documentary at the time, we would likely term it a 'docudrama' as it is scripted with an intriguing plot & storyline.

The film shows the daily life of the Eskimo, both Winter & Summer, and in fact starts in the warmer time of the year without any snow or ice in sight. The constant striving for food is depicted, and the viewer gets to watch the exciting hunts for walrus, polar bear, whale & caribou. The native language is used throughout, with the use of title cards; the only English is spoken by the fishermen & Mounties encountered by the Eskimo. In fact, it is the arrival of White Men, both good & bad, and the change they make on Eskimo society, which is a major element in the narrative.

This Pre-Code film deals in a refreshingly frank manner with the Eskimo moral code, particularly with their practice of wife-sharing, which was an important and completely innocent part of their culture. In fact, the entire film can be appreciated as a valuable look at a way of life which was rapidly disappearing even in the early 1930's.

None of the cast receives screen credit, which is a shame as there are some notable performances. Foremost among them is that of Ray Wise, playing the leading role of Mala the Eskimo. Wise (1906-1952) was an Alaskan Native of Inuit ancestry and is absolutely splendid and perfectly believable in what was a very demanding part. As handsome as any Hollywood star, he would continue acting, using the name of Ray Mala, in a sporadic film career, often in tiny unbilled roles.

Lovely Japanese-Hawaiian actress Lotus Long plays Mala's loyal second wife; the names of the fine actresses playing his other two wives are now obscure. Director Woody Van Dyke steps in front of the cameras as a strict North West Mounted Police inspector. The two decent-hearted Mounties who must deliver Mala to Canadian justice are played by Joe Sawyer & Edgar Dearing, both longtime movie character actors. Danish author Peter Freuchen, upon whose books the film was based, has a short vivid role of an evil wooden-legged sea captain who unwisely rouses Mala's icy wrath.

Remarkable for its scenes from the arctic and its portrayal of the native way of life, "Eskimo" is a compelling drama about Mala, a skillful hunter, and his family. With a really authentic feeling to it, "Eskimo" delivers a gripping story of survival and the interactions between the natives and the white men who come to the area.

It is refreshing to watch a film from the thirties that celebrates the native way of life-its rituals, its language, its system of morals. And the photography is impressive, especially the scenes of hunting. Though this is not a documentary, it feels authentic in every aspect.

The acting is surprisingly good. The story is interesting, in part because of its exotic nature. This is a must-see for film buffs and a joy to watch for any viewer.

"Eskimo" is a curious document of contradictions. It's part ethnographic record, part pseudo-documentary and, mostly, a fictional melodrama. It's a mechanically-reproduced product for urban consumption that romanticizes the interaction with nature by indigenous peoples. It's an anti-colonial message made by interfering with and offering a distorted representation of the lives of the Inuit from the perspective of people from colonial powers and for the pleasure of such audiences (i.e. mostly American movie-goers). Its authentic records of the Inuit's hunting is juxtaposed with patently-ersatz rear-projection shots. Its depiction of the Inuit's polygamous customs are made dubious by their portrayal from professional actors in a fictional narrative. Filming the characters speaking an Inuktitut language is mixed with suspect and oft condescending translations on title cards. Respect for the Inuit culture is undermined--not so much by the now-politically-incorrect term "Eskimo" or descriptions of their being "primitive"--but by the tropes of the "noble savage" and, to a lesser extent here, the "white savior." Several generations removed from the film, it has also, perhaps, become more interesting to examine for how it primitively represents (for being an early talkie and for its antiquated representation another culture) its subject than for what its examines of the supposedly-primitive people. Yet, it's commendable that "Eskimo" provides diversity and sympathy for a racial "other" amidst a Hollywood dominated by, as the film says, the "white man."

That said, such expedition films had been a popular genre since, at least, "Nanook of the North" (1922) (although there had already been similar constructions such as "In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914)). Indeed, the travels of W.S. Van Dyke, the director of "Eskimo," already included the South Seas ("White Shadows in the South Seas" (1928), "The Pagan" (1929)) and Africa ("Trader Horn" (1931)). "Moana" (1926) and "Tabu: A Story of the South Seas" (1931) are two other well-known examples. By the time of "Eskimo," however, these docu-fictions seem to have begun to be superceded by more fantastical exotic pictures, such as "King Kong" (1933) (from a filmmaking duo that had made their own docu-fictions "Grass" (1925) and "Chang" (1927)) and Van Dyke's own "Tarzan the Ape Man" (1932).

As a relatively-early talkie shot on location, "Eskimo" is especially curious for how it handles the depiction of a foreign language. Instead of subtitles or having the actors speak English, as later movies would, the silent-era technique of intertitles is borrowed for English translations. I think this works better than one might otherwise expect. It has the benefit of not detracting, as subtitles might, from the picture's often lovely location photography. By contrast, "Eskimo" is an early instance of extended use of rear projection, and its application here looks as lousy as any classic-film buff familiar with the technique would assume. How ironic that the most state-of-the-art effect in the film's own time wound up historically being its most ostentatiously primitive-looking one. Moreover, the inserts of these shots detract from what one assumes are largely faithful recordings of the Inuit hunting practices. Their continued use in the breaking-ice climax also looks poor in comparison to the special effects of years prior, for example the breaking-ice scenes in "Way Down East" (1920) or "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1927). Overall, one only need to compare this to Dyke's earlier and late-silent-film "White Shadows in the South Seas" to see how much the change from silent to sound technology continued to hamper cinematography into the early and mid 1930s--even though the sound recording here is quite good. On the other hand, the Oscar-winning editing tends to be exemplary--even a fight with a wolf is edited together surprisingly well.

Comparison to "White Shadows in the South Seas" is also illuminating for how the earlier film better managed to overcome patronizing depictions of indigenous peoples as noble savages and colonialists as white saviors. On the first count, "Eskimo" is thoroughly an exponent of the noble savage myth; that's the entire narrative drive of the picture and the framework for which Mala is depicted as simple minded but innately good, as unblemished by civilization. The "good" white characters admire him and the Inuit culture for this, while the baddies (two of who are rather ironically portrayed by the film's writer and director, respectively) exploit it for rapacious reasons. On the second count, "Eskimo" does largely avoid any white savior cliché for the most part, but succumbs to it a bit in the end. This may be a result of tampering from the Hollywood studio system, though, as Dyke and company elected only a few years prior to somewhat subvert the white savior myth that was otherwise central to "White Shadows in the South Seas." "Eskimo" does the reverse; we're treated to a decidedly anti-white-savior picture for almost the entire film, with even the white characters who may otherwise have good intentions inevitably performing evil actions within the imperialist system, but then that's all contradicted in the finale. Throughout, "Eskimo" is consistent in being contradictory.

Here I thought "Nanook of the north" was the last word in archaic semi-doc 'eskimo' movies. How wrong! As an avid sea-kayaker I stayed up till 330am to watch this hoping to get a glimpse of some hand-made 'skin-boats'. The movie did not let me down. Any student of kayak/umiak construction should have a look-see here. (Note to fellow SKers: they appear to be using Norton Sound kayaks with single blade paddles).

But the film went way beyond this admittedly narrow interest. Even though there were as others have noted some little back-shot-fakey-bits the movie has so much heart they are just a minor annoyance. It was (from this very amateur anthropologist's viewpoint) probably the perfect time to make this movie. Early thirties: the 'talkies' are so new that they (including Louie B. Mayer!) actually let the Inuit speak in their own tongue. And there is so much that was still, despite the infused melodrama, authentic. They are really whacking that polar bear, that whale and those caribou. A fifties version of this film would have been so cheesy with 'stars', Technicolor, etc. to gum it up. The seventies version? Don't even. A very good companion piece to this excellent movie is "White shadows in the south seas" (1928) Geograpically the mirror image to "Eskimo" it also deals with the relentless and profound disruption of Western culture/technology on an unsuspecting people.