Med Roald Amundsens nordpolekspedition til første vinterkvarter
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EDU_AVC_0788
Med Roald Amundsens nordpolekspedition til første vinterkvarter
(Originaltitel)
ROALD AMUNDSENS NOORDPOOL- EXPEDITIE: EEN AVONTUURLIJKE REIS MET DEN GROOTEN NOORWEEGSCHEN ONDERZOEKER IN 5 ACTEN (Alternativer Titel)
ROALD AMUNDSENS NOORDPOOL- EXPEDITIE: EEN AVONTUURLIJKE REIS MET DEN GROOTEN NOORWEEGSCHEN ONDERZOEKER IN 5 ACTEN (Alternativer Titel)
Das Bild im Dienste der Schule und Volksbildung, H. 10/1926, 148.
• Eye’s catalogue quotes from correspondence with Tina Anckarman, National Library of Norway, Film Department:
Two films were made about Amundsen's expedition to the Northpole: MED ROALD AMUNDSENS NORDPOLEKSPEDITION TIL FØRSTE VINTERKVARTER [WITH ROALD AMUNSEN’S NORTH POLE EXPEDITION T THE FIURST WINTER QUARTERS] and MED ‘MAUD’ OVER POLHAVET [WITH ‘MAUD’ ACROSS THE ARCTIC OCEAN]. The first film covers the first half of the expedition, until the very long wintering. The second covers the second part of the expedition—after Amundsen had left it—when the crew leaves the winter quarters only to get caught in the ice and immobilized. There is a little footage common to both films, namely the presentation of the crew at the beginning; in the second film this footage is clearly duped.
Eye catalogue’s dating of the expedition, and hence the film, is confusing, as it mentions the years 1922-1925 in one the film’s alternative titles, while the description of the film’s content mentions 1918-1922. This, I think, is the result of the ‘logic’ that what was called above the abovementioned “first film”, suggests: the Dutch print features a map of the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean near Alaska and Siberia (at 377m) that is dated “August 1922”. But this camouflages a number ellipses in the actual itinerary.
• DK701, apparently, is the Dutch distribution print of MED ROALD AMUNDSENS NORDPOLEKSPEDITION… It starts at the expedition’s beginning, not only introducing the polar ship Maud, Amundsen, and crew, including a pilot who was hired to fly Amundsen to the North Pole (indeed, an “all metal monoplane” is seen among the ship’s cargo). But it also shows the rest of the preparatory activities: loading the dogs and provisions for six years as well as the caulking and tarring of the deck. All this takes place in the port of Seattle. The Maud’s shoving off, in the summer of 1918, as well as its call at other ports draw a lot of attention (including cameras).
The expedition’s itinerary, however, differs substantially from what the film suggest. For instance Nome, AK, is suggested—by not mentioning any date—to be the first port of call after Seattle. But in actual fact, on the expedition’s first leg Amundsen visited Nome twice, first in September 1919, to recover from various wounds, and next in 1920, stranded due to severe winter weather. After that he returned to Norway, only to show up in Nome again in 1922. Apparently it was then that he decided to split up the expedition in a naval and aerial part, taking a small group with him. But by the time the film shows that the “monoplane” was useless—a broken axle that allegedly occurred in Wainwright, Alaska, north of Nome—not only the itinerary, but also the timeline had become a puzzle.
• One suspects that the film was sold on Amundsen’s fame (which may have contributed to financing the expedition). But it is not very exciting, partly, of course, because of a series of setbacks that had to be camouflaged to a certain extent. Of course, there are travel scenes, most spectacularly the aerial shots taken from the monoplane. Furthermore, there are quite a number of quasi-ethnographic scenes, many of which are posed portraits, as well as the usual scenes stressing the natives’ ‘simplicity’. The Inuit, as well as the crew, also provided occasions to record hunting scenes (polar bears, walruses), very common at the time. There are a few scenes of scientific experiments. And, of course, the vagaries of the climate, winds, and drift ice, circumstances that actually prevented the expedition’s success—although at the end of this filmed part of the enterprise this was turned into a cliffhanger (even though people worldwide—the fame!—may have already learned about the expedition’s failure to reach the North Pole).
(Nico de Klerk)
• Eye’s catalogue quotes from correspondence with Tina Anckarman, National Library of Norway, Film Department:
Two films were made about Amundsen's expedition to the Northpole: MED ROALD AMUNDSENS NORDPOLEKSPEDITION TIL FØRSTE VINTERKVARTER [WITH ROALD AMUNSEN’S NORTH POLE EXPEDITION T THE FIURST WINTER QUARTERS] and MED ‘MAUD’ OVER POLHAVET [WITH ‘MAUD’ ACROSS THE ARCTIC OCEAN]. The first film covers the first half of the expedition, until the very long wintering. The second covers the second part of the expedition—after Amundsen had left it—when the crew leaves the winter quarters only to get caught in the ice and immobilized. There is a little footage common to both films, namely the presentation of the crew at the beginning; in the second film this footage is clearly duped.
Eye catalogue’s dating of the expedition, and hence the film, is confusing, as it mentions the years 1922-1925 in one the film’s alternative titles, while the description of the film’s content mentions 1918-1922. This, I think, is the result of the ‘logic’ that what was called above the abovementioned “first film”, suggests: the Dutch print features a map of the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean near Alaska and Siberia (at 377m) that is dated “August 1922”. But this camouflages a number ellipses in the actual itinerary.
• DK701, apparently, is the Dutch distribution print of MED ROALD AMUNDSENS NORDPOLEKSPEDITION… It starts at the expedition’s beginning, not only introducing the polar ship Maud, Amundsen, and crew, including a pilot who was hired to fly Amundsen to the North Pole (indeed, an “all metal monoplane” is seen among the ship’s cargo). But it also shows the rest of the preparatory activities: loading the dogs and provisions for six years as well as the caulking and tarring of the deck. All this takes place in the port of Seattle. The Maud’s shoving off, in the summer of 1918, as well as its call at other ports draw a lot of attention (including cameras).
The expedition’s itinerary, however, differs substantially from what the film suggest. For instance Nome, AK, is suggested—by not mentioning any date—to be the first port of call after Seattle. But in actual fact, on the expedition’s first leg Amundsen visited Nome twice, first in September 1919, to recover from various wounds, and next in 1920, stranded due to severe winter weather. After that he returned to Norway, only to show up in Nome again in 1922. Apparently it was then that he decided to split up the expedition in a naval and aerial part, taking a small group with him. But by the time the film shows that the “monoplane” was useless—a broken axle that allegedly occurred in Wainwright, Alaska, north of Nome—not only the itinerary, but also the timeline had become a puzzle.
• One suspects that the film was sold on Amundsen’s fame (which may have contributed to financing the expedition). But it is not very exciting, partly, of course, because of a series of setbacks that had to be camouflaged to a certain extent. Of course, there are travel scenes, most spectacularly the aerial shots taken from the monoplane. Furthermore, there are quite a number of quasi-ethnographic scenes, many of which are posed portraits, as well as the usual scenes stressing the natives’ ‘simplicity’. The Inuit, as well as the crew, also provided occasions to record hunting scenes (polar bears, walruses), very common at the time. There are a few scenes of scientific experiments. And, of course, the vagaries of the climate, winds, and drift ice, circumstances that actually prevented the expedition’s success—although at the end of this filmed part of the enterprise this was turned into a cliffhanger (even though people worldwide—the fame!—may have already learned about the expedition’s failure to reach the North Pole).
(Nico de Klerk)
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