The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Evaluation of New Films L. C. LARSON, Editor Director, AudioVisual Center Indiana University, Bloomington CAROLYN CUSS, Assistant Professor JOHN O.FRITZ, Instructor School of Education, Indiana University ANGOTEE, STORY OF AN ESKIMO BOY (National Film Board of Canada, 1270 Avenue of the Americas, New York 20, New York) 31 minutes, 16mm, sound, color. ?225. Description of Contents: This is the story of the life of an Eskimo family and especially their son, Angotee, from the time of his birth to his entry into adulthood as a husband and a hunter. Opening scenes introduce the members of the Eskimo family. Atootoo, the wife of the Hunter Koonuk, is expecting another child and is hoping it will be a son, so dear to the heart of her hunter husband. Her daughters, Anook and Kana, and their grandmother complete the family circle. One day as she is cleaning caribou skins, Atootoo receives the first sharp warning of the impending birth of her child. Her daughters quickly summon their neighbor friends and, according to custom, remain away from the igloo until the baby is born. The women move efficiently about Atootoo as a son is born to her and Koonuk. That night friends gather in Koonuk's igloo and share in the happiness of the family. Grandmother decides on the name "Angotee." When he is eight months old, his parents take Angotee on a four days' journey to the nearest white settlement where they purchase special food for him as well as other provisions in exchange for fox skins. Typical family scenes are shown as Angotee grows. At two years old, he is clothed carefully in two suits of caribou^kins, socks, boots, and mitts before he is permitted outdoors. At the age of seven, he is beginning to assume the social roles peculiar to Eskimo culture. Already he longs for a team of his own and for the life of a hunter. At home he is the ruler of the household. We now meet Angotee's future wife, already spoken for by Koonuk, and we see her learning the tasks of women from her mother. When Angotee is ten, his mother dies. At twelve he is no longer a boy, not yet a man. He is shown being trained by his father in setting traps for white foxes and developing patience and a careful eye in hunting seals. Finally one day he locates and kills his first seal and proudly enters the company of men. In his 18th year, he marries the girl chosen years before by his father. After living two years in his father's Igloo, Angotee prepares to leave to become master of his own. Closing scenes show Angotee, his wife, and his small son bidding farewell to Koonuk and his household as they thrust with courage and confidence into the limitless expanse of the north. Committee Appraisal: Angotee, the reviewing committee agreed, is a fascinating and exciting documentary on Eskimo life. The attention to detail, the sensitive and delicate treatment of even the most intimate facets of Eskimo life, and expert photographic craftsmanship combine to give the film such a degree of excellence that'many will compare it to Nanook of the North. The film should be useful in both formal and informal groups from the early elementary age through adulthood for the purposes of (1) showing the social and family lite Film reviews and evaluations on these pages are based upon discussions by a preview committee composed of Indiana University faculty members, public school teachers, students of audio-visual education, and staff members of the Audio-Visual Center at Indiana University. Preview prints should be sent directly to the Audio-Visual Center, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. of the EJskimo, (2) developing an understanding of the role of the male and female members of society at various ages and stages of development in a particular cultural pattern, (3) serving as the basis for pointing out the similarities and differences between the Eskimo culture and our own, and (4) providing a general interest and aesthetic experience of a very high order. Elementary teachers, it seems, feel that the birth sequence will not detract from the usefulness of the film with younger groups. THE UGLY DUCKLING (Coronet Instructional Films, Coronet Building, Chicago 1, Illinois) 12 minutes, 16mm, sound, color or black and white. $100 or ?50. Filmed in Europe. Teachers' Guide available. Description of Contents: The fairy tale The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen forms the basis of this film. It relates the experience of an ugly duckling from the day it hatches to the time it grows into an attractive white swan. It is midsummer when the camera takes the viewer over green and golden country fields through the foliage surrounding a pond to find a mother duck diligently tending her eggs. In due time six yellow ducklings appear, followed by a large ungainly duckling, blue grey in color with a black bill. Were it not for his ability to swim the following day in the pond, his mother would have doubted that he was a duck at all. The animals in the farmyard, in turn, cast disparaging remarks at his peculiar appearance and finally chase him out into the fields to hide his ugliness among the weeds in a marsh. In the pond before him he sees for the first time a big, beautiful white swan moving about gracefully, and there he gains temporary comfort in the companionship of two wild ducks. Shortly after, he is again forced to flee into the fields by the appearance of a hunter and his dog, only to find a little quiet cottage where he is welcomed and accepted by the occupant. Although he has grown in size since the day he burst from his shell, the painful taunts of a cat and hen accentuate his feeling of uselessness and he withdraws again to the lonely existence at the pond. Autumn and winter pass, and in the shelter of a group of pine trees something very startling has happened to the ugly duckling. As he emerges into the warmth and the beauty of the ensuing spring, he notices his reflection on the Coronet Films He, who was once a sad ugly duckling, is happy at last. 356 Educational Screen