Review of Man of Aran (1934) by Simon T — 23 Apr 2015

From the man who founded the documentary genre. Man of Aran is a remarkable film. You need to have an imagination to appreciate it, though. I'm not sure if there's a more restored version, but what I saw was pretty grainy. It doesn't matter because the movie is definitely clear enough that you can imagine what it would be like if you were really there. This isn't a Hollywood production, this is real. The movie is staged, but the event itself happens everyday on Aran Island.

I love watching these old survival movies. That's what I call them. A movie like this made after the introduction of color movies would probably look modern in some way. You would see signs that the culture you're watching is in even just a small way touched by outside influence. You'd see things that look familiar and then it stops feeling like a trip back in time. The footage is very raw. The boats, tools, weapons, clothes, it's all old and genuine. These movies are liberating, like casting off the shackles of society and returning to a simpler time when life was all about the struggle between nature and man.