Robert Flaherty
I am on the West coast of Ireland not far from the islands of Aran. Tomorrow I am going to talk with Mac Dara Ó Curraidhín about a brilliant proposal for a film on Flaherty. Here is a small quote from the proposal:
A Boatload of Wild Irishmen tells the story of Robert Flaherty, the father of the documentary and one of the cinema’s most influential figures. Over the dramatic footage he took of a currach caught in a monstrous sea (from Man of Aran, 1934), Flaherty’s importance will be explained. He was the first to see that film of the every day life of ‘real’ people could be moulded into dramatic, entertaining narratives: but, by the same token, he is also the father of manipulation and distortion as well as being a bridge whereby stereotypes of exotic peoples (including Aran Islanders of the 1930s) became part of cinema.
And here are some citations from Flaherty, still very much food for thought:
“Sometimes you have to lie. One often has to distort a thing to catch its true spirit.”
And referring to the dramatic scene described above: “I should have been shot for what I asked these superb people to do for the film, for the enormous risks I exposed them to, and all for the sake of a keg of porter and five pounds apiece.”
