“Atanarjuat and Ethnographic Cinema” – FX6017

An essay for Section D of FX6017

Cinematic representations of marginalised peoples are often tied to the conventions of ethnographic films, seemingly due to the innate appeal of exoticism to mainstream Western audiences.(1) This is certainly true of Robert Flaherty’s ​Nanook of the North ​(1922), often cited as the first ethnographic film – as well as the first documentary – ever made. This being the case, its influence has been fundamental in shaping the conventions of ethnographic film, while its cultural significance has made it an unavoidable touchstone for any other representations of Inuit people, with Flaherty’s film being the basis of many outsiders’ knowledge of Inuit culture, and the Inuit on screen.

This relationship with ​Nanook of the North​, and ethnographic cinema at large, has seemingly influenced the approach of the filmmakers responsible for ​Atanarjuat ​(2001)​, ​the first Inuit feature film. In many ways, the film appears to address the representation of Inuit people in ​Nanook of the North​, drawing on ethnographic conventions and providing differing perspectives of similar events, giving a more accurate depiction of a similar society as the one depicted in ​Nanook of the North. ​But rather than setting out to merely right the wrongs of Flaherty’s film, ​Atanarjuat ​provides a corrective to such works by going beyond a simple reinterpretation of ethnographic conventions, offering a story that is less concerned with providing facts to inform outsiders, but instead attempts to “make the viewer feel inside the action.”(2) In this sense, ​Atanarjuat ​acts as a corrective to ethnographic films such as ​Nanook of the North ​by addressing their conventions to show a more authentic representation of their culture, but also by deliberately incorporating elements of myth and fiction in order to create a film that depicts an insider view of Inuit society, while avoiding the limitations that would come from attempting to directly address a Western audience.

In​ “ReadingNanook’s Smile,”​MichelleH.Raheja asserts that Atanarjuat​“employs ethnographic conventions to serve didactic purposes.”(3) The film contains several moments that mirror set pieces seen in ​Nanook of the North​, such as the building of igloos and the use of huskies to pull sleighs. In comparison to ​Nanook of the North, Atanarjuat ​provides more accurate portrayals of such events, with a more realistic depiction of igloos and their construction, and a greater sense of the Inuits’ control over their dogs, with ​Atanarjuat​ showing them to be much tamer, undermining the sense of a constant struggle between a primitive, yet determined people and nature. This greater accuracy illustrates a more truthful account of Inuit life at a time before European influence, which Flaherty had wanted to depict.

The film also reworks this conventional representation of a cultural activity by incorporating these set pieces into the narrative. While an ethnographic film would show these activities for the sake of seeing them, their use in the narrative gives them a purpose that subverts their role as an object to be viewed by an audience of outsiders. A particularly interesting example is when the protagonist, Atanarjuat, builds an igloo at the end of the film to host Oki and his two friends. Watching him do this is important as it reveals that he poured water in the floor in order to trick them, making the floor slippery, yet a viewer who is unaware of what is involved in the making of an igloo could easily see this happening and assume that this is a normal step in the process. In other words, this is an ethnographic style of documenting a cultural practice, but its use within the narrative modifies it to be something that can only be fully understood- at least at first – by an insider.

 

In a broader sense, ethnographic films attempt to create an overarching idea of “cultures, exotic peoples, or customs.”(4) ​Nanook of the North ​attempts to create an image of the Inuit people as noble savages, wrestling with nature. It creates an Eskimo Orientalism,(5) depicting a “pure primitive,” without any sense of High Culture, only an essential understanding of how to survive their constant struggle against nature. Through its use of ethnographic conventions, ​Atanarjuat ​subverts these notions by giving an intimate look at their arts and culture, showing traditional Inuit song and dance. Furthermore, it disassembles the image of the noble savage by showing flawed characters, as well as undermining the Western ideals depicted in ​Nanook of the North​, such as the assertion that the Inuits have Western-style monogamous marriages.

But what is perhaps most important in relation to ​Atanarjuat’s ​use of ethnographic conventions, is the juxtaposition of these conventions with a strong awareness of the fictional story being told. One approach could have been to merely subvert the conventions of ethnographic cinema, directly addressing misconceptions of Inuit culture as purported by ​Nanook of the North​, and in doing so, informing those outside of Inuit society on the reality of their lives and history. Yet ​Atanarjuat ​does not stick to such a simplistic template, but instead expands on it to achieve more than a corrective for outsider audiences by creating a film for their own people.

In the spirit of Fourth Cinema, ​Atanarjuat ​operates in a similar manner to Barry Barclay’s proposed “communications ​marae,​”(6) promoting an indigenous cinema that looks inward – creating stories told in an indigenous way for an indigenous audience – yet is still open to outsiders. In an interview relating to her film ​I Am Not a Witch​, director Rungano Nyoni described her reluctance to pander to white audiences by making a realistic film.(7) She makes the point that making only realistic films that illuminate foreign cultures to Western audiences are still a form of exoticism, whether or not they are truthful. In this sense, the use of an Inuit legend, and the filmmakers decision to add to it by including shamanism, results in a better corrective effort than any mere subversion could offer. By juxtaposing ethnographic fact with a reinterpreted traditional fiction, ​Atanarjuat ​manages to be more than a more accurate piece of salvage ethnography, while its end credits remind the viewer of the filmmaking process, and that any film will only be able to present a very limited version of truth.

By subverting and manipulating the conventions of ethnographic cinema, and ​Nanook of the North ​in particular, it can perhaps be said that ​Atanarjuat ​achieves a much greater truth, one that examines Inuit history while acknowledging its present, in a film that manages to address foreign audiences while, ultimately, remaining distinctively Inuit.

1 ​Aufderheide, Patricia. ​Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction​. Oxford University Press, 2007, ​pp. 108.

2 ​Krupat, Arnold. “​Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner ​and its Audiences​.​” ​Critical​ ​Inquiry​, vol. 33, no. 3, Spring 2007​, pp.616.
 3 ​Raheja, Michelle H. “Reading Nanook’s Smile: Visual Sovereignty, Indigenous revisions of Ethnography, and Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner).​” ​American​ ​Quarterly​, vol. 59, no. 4, December 2007.

4 ​Aufderheide, Patricia. ​Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction​. Oxford University Press, 2007, ​pp. 106. 

5 ​Raheja, Michelle H. “Reading Nanook’s Smile: Visual Sovereignty, Indigenous revisions of Ethnography, and Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner).​” ​American​ ​Quarterly​, vol. 59, no. 4, December 2007.
 6 ​Milligan, Christina. “Sites of exuberance: Barry Barclay and Fourth Cinema, ten years on.” ​International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics​, vol. 11, no. 3, 2015, ​pp. 349.

7 ​Jones, Ellen E. “I Am Not a Witch Director Rungano Nyoni: 'The Chief Whatsapped His People to Find Our Star'.” ​The Guardian​, 25 May 2017, www.theguardian.com/film/2017/may/25/i-am-not-a-witch-director-rungaro-nyoti-the-chief-whatsapped-his-peo ple-to-cast-our-star.

 

Works Cited

•  Atanarjuat. ​Directed by ​Zacharias Kunuk, Isuma Igloolik Productions, 2001.

•  Aufderheide, Patricia. ​Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction​. Oxford University Press, 2007.
• Jones, Ellen E. “I Am Not a Witch Director Rungano Nyoni: ‘The Chief Whatsapped His People to Find Our Star’.” ​The Guardian​, 25 May 2017, http://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/may/25/i-am-not-a-witch-director-rungaro-nyoti-the -chief-whatsapped-his-people-to-cast-our-star.
• Krupat, Arnold. “​Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner ​and its Audiences​.​” ​Critical​ ​Inquiry​, vol. 33, no. 3, Spring 2007.
• Milligan, Christina. “Sites of exuberance: Barry Barclay and Fourth Cinema, ten years on.” ​International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics​, vol. 11, no. 3, 2015.
• Nanook of the North. ​Robert Flaherty, Path​é ​Exchange, 1922.

• Raheja, Michelle H. “Reading Nanook’s Smile: Visual Sovereignty, Indigenous revisions of Ethnography, and​ Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner).​” ​American​ ​Quarterly​, vol. 59, no. 4, December 2007.