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Man of Aran (1934, UK)
In pioneering director Robert Flaherty's semi-staged
(or fabricated) documentary ("docu-fiction") about the
harsh life of survival on Ireland's desolate, weather-beaten, rugged
and barren Aran Islands about 30 miles off Ireland's western coast:
- the close-knit family - viewed dialogue-less (with
over-dubs only) - archetypal characters: fisherman/patriarch -
the 'Man of Aran' (Colman "Tiger" King), his Wife (Maggie
Dirrane), and young Son (Michael Dillane)
- the churning of the thunderous waves that threatened
to drown the villagers
- the portrayal of the gritty and inventive struggle
to grow food without soil, by laying seaweed down on the bare rock
to produce a potato crop (Title-card: "Seaweed - the foundation
of their farm")
- the scene of the boy fishing with a line from towering
cliff faces, when he spotted something, climbed down the rocks, and
stood face to face with the gaping mouth of a great white shark swimming
by in the water (the musical score on the soundtrack suddenly stopped
to emphasis his find)
- the film's centerpiece - the elaborate montage sequence
of the prolonged, two-day boat hunt for a basking shark by harpooning
(to provide lamp oil) - a practice that had actually ended many decades
earlier
Montage of Shark Hunt
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- in the conclusion, the incredible storm scenes and
turbulent churning waters, with giant waves threatening to engulf
the fishing boat
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Threatened Villagers
Growing Food (Potatoes) Using Seaweed
Fishing on Cliff's Edge
Sighting of Shark
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