Eskimo (1933)

(On Cable TV, November 2021) It’s tempting to see Eskimo (their word, not mine) as a talkie remake of Nanook of the North. Indeed, there are numerous points of similarities between both movies, and they all run along the lines of other remakes:  The story remains an exploration of Inuit communities up north as they live their lifestyle and meet Caucasian people. The film is presented with an anthropological intent, as we follow the characters living in the arctic circle, going hunting and taking in the unusual landscape. But the two films are not particularly alike once you look closer. Clearly coming from another source (a novel), Eskimo heads for Alaska rather than Hudson’s Bay, and seems put together with a Pre-Code lasciviousness that doesn’t spare a lot of time in highlighting the looser sexual mores of the “primitive” people (their word, not mine) and how sexual favours are routinely traded for material goods. Truth in cinema, for sure, but the angle is more exploitative than the rest of the film. In terms of inclusivity, Eskimo does about as well as any film could have been expected in the early 1930s. Much of the dialogue is not in English, and it is presented through title cards rather than subtitles. The Inuit characters are portrayed by director W. S. Van Dyke as having agendas and personalities, with the Caucasians not coming across are particularly likable. Still, the film rankles from the title onward, clearly presenting an exotic, sometimes exploitative vision of “the other.”  Obvious rear-projection work damages the effectiveness of some hunting sequences, while taking a look at the cast list belies the idea that this is in any way authentic. There are ample reasons to prefer Nanook of the North.