Post Description

In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914)

Description
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A drama of Kwakiutl life in the Northwest. Best known as one of the premiere photographers of the 20th century, Edward S. Curtis devoted his life to documenting the disappearing world of the American Indian. In this film, originally titled "In the Land of the Headhunters," Curtis retold a tribal story of love and revenge among the Kwakiutl Indians of Vancouver Island. Curtis spent three years with the Kwakiutl to meticulously recreate their way of life before the white man came. In addition to the magnificent painted war canoes of the title, the film features wonderful native costumes, dancing and rituals--including a powerful scene of a vision quest. 

A single damaged, incomplete print of the film was salvaged from a dumpster and donated to Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History  in 1947. Restored from the only surviving print in 1972 with a new score of original music and chants by the Kwakiutls themselves, "In the Land of the War Canoes" presents a magnificent image of a lost world. 

It was selected in 1999 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

It was the first feature-length film whose cast was composed entirely of Native North Americans; the second, eight years later, was Robert Flaherty's Nanook of the North.

Format: NTSC

DVD Size: 3.49 GB -- Exact Untouched Copy

Runtime (main feature): 47 minutes

Type: Black and White

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 | Non-Anamorphic

Sound (main feature): silent (score in DD1.0)

Subtitles: English intertitles

Staat in: a.b.dvd.classics