Die Männer von Aran (1934)

Die Männer von Aran: Directed by Robert J. Flaherty. With Colman ‘Tiger’ King, Maggie Dirrane, Michael Dirrane, Pat Mullin. 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.

“If you were to ask passers-by on the street if theyu0026#39;d be interested in seeing a 1934 documentary about the harsh day-to-day existence of a tiny community living on a remote island off the coast of Ireland — well, youu0026#39;d be standing there all day before you could find someone whou0026#39;d say, u0026quot;sure!u0026quot;. Which is really a disappointment because they donu0026#39;t know what theyu0026#39;re missing!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThink of every poem youu0026#39;ve read about the sea and manu0026#39;s relation to it and you might get a clue as to the depths of feeling that this film has. Itu0026#39;s like Hemingway, Pablo Neruda and W.B. Yeats all rolled into one. Itu0026#39;s extremely simplistic, just shots of how a small family fishes, hauls seaweed for fertilizer (there is no soil on the island) and dodges waves so high that its foam sprays above the cliff-tops. Not to mention an incredible sequence where five fishermen try to catch and kill a shark that is a good deal larger than their boat!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhatu0026#39;s most exhilarating about this film is that while youu0026#39;re watching it, you canu0026#39;t help but think that these people are crazy to choose to live in such a desolate and difficult place, but then you try to imagine them elsewhere and you know that they are as much a part of that environment as the stubborn sea-worn cliffs are. After even thirty minutes of the film, the roar of the ocean and the cries of the gulls fill your head to such an extreme that you know that such people could live no where else. This film is reminiscent of Roberto Rosselliniu0026#39;s film, u0026quot;Stromboliu0026quot; about the inhabitants of a small village on a volcanic island. There are a few brief pockets of sentimentality due to the score, but the filmmakers thankfully left out the music during all of the filmu0026#39;s most important scenes. Overall what you have is an incredible cinematic experience that makes you think and imagine what it would be like to live a life where every day is a struggle with the elements of nature and a fight for survival, yet filled with the deepest awe and respect for nature and for living.”