Man of Aran (1934)

In this blend of documentary and fictional narrative from pioneering filmmaker Robert Flaherty, the everyday trials of life on Ireland's unforgiving Aran Islands are captured with attention to naturalistic beauty and historical detail.

Director:

Robert J. Flaherty

Writer:

Robert J. Flaherty

Stars:

Colman 'Tiger' King, Maggie Dirrane, Michael Dirrane

3 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Colman 'Tiger' King	...	A Man of Aran
Maggie Dirrane	...	His Wife
Michael Dirrane	...	Their Son
Pat Mullin	...	Shark Hunter
Patch 'Red Beard' Ruadh	...	Shark Hunter
Patcheen Faherty	...	Shark Hunter
Tommy O'Rourke	...	Shark Hunter
'Big Patcheen' Conneely of the West	...	Canoeman
Stephen Dirrane	...	Canoeman
Pat McDonough	...	Canoeman

Storyline

In this blend of documentary and fictional narrative from pioneering filmmaker Robert Flaherty, the everyday trials of life on Ireland's unforgiving Aran Islands are captured with attention to naturalistic beauty and historical detail.

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Plot Keywords:

ireland | survival | shark oil | shark hunt | repairing boat | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The islanders hunt a basking shark for its oil, but they hadn't done so in generations. The filmmakers had to bring an Inuit hunter to show them how to do it as their ancestors might have.

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Connections

Edited into Spisok korabley (2008)

User Reviews

A Spectacular depiction of man and nature

I rented this from Netflix recently. Visually, this picture is stunning. Some of the finest filming of the sea I've ever seen. The minimalist story really isn't much, just an attempt to provide some excuse for various actions in the film. This film is really not a documentary at all. One of the special features on the DVD is a short film called "Making the Myth" (or something like that), which is all about how the film was made, how Flaherty scripted various scenes, etc. As noted in the a previous review, the entire shark scene was something Flaherty pushed, recognizing that shark hunting sells. However, according to "Making the Myth," basking shark hunting had gone out over 50 years earlier. Apparently Flaherty also thought that, if he got people hunting the sharks for his move, they might start it up again as a local industry. We found a good portion of the dialogue almost unintelligible. Especially at the start, we thought they we speaking Gaelic! Still, the dialogue is really unnecessary. Flaherty uses old fashioned dialogue cards, like in a silent film, to explain what's coming up. Overall, this was a very interesting film to watch. Since it's just over an hour long, it's a good one to see when you have some time but don't want to commit to any "Major Movie Event!"

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 November 1934 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Die Männer von Aran

Filming Locations:

Aran Islands, County Galway, Ireland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gainsborough Pictures

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1