It was John Grierson who, in 1926, dubbed Robert Flaherty “The Father of the Documentary Film,” placing him at the center of a controversy which continues today over the nature of ‘truth' in the documentary film. But Flaherty's concerns were elsewhere; he stated, “One often has to distort a thing to catch its true spirit.” Man of Aran is a film of great beauty, reflecting Flaherty's “passionate devotion to the portrayal of human gesture.... an incomparable account of human dignity.” (Georges Sadoul)
Having long wanted to make a film about a “man of the sea,” Flaherty spent almost two years making Man of Aran, a film about the difficult life of the inhabitants of an isolated island 30 miles off the west coast of Ireland. He actually installed a small processing laboratory on the island in order to screen the rushes. Focusing on the treacheries of existence--of fishing from tiny boats, hunting shark, battling storms--Flaherty selected his native “actors” and recreated with them a “daily life,” resurrecting antiquated procedures and thus leaving himself open to criticism.