The Louisiana Story

Documentary film pioneer Robert Flaherty's last feature is his most beautifully photographed work, but it also proved to be his most controversial as well. Sponsored by Standard Oil, the film can be seen as a paean to the minimal effect an oil company can have on the wilderness it seeks to exploit. ...more

Whatever questions attend Robert Flaherty's last film (Is it really a documentary? Does its sponsorship by a major corporation contradict its celebration of the natural world?), it is inarguably his loveliest film. Cinematographer Richard Leacock, editor Helen van Dongen, and composer Virgil Thomson were among the most talented collaborators Flaherty ever enjoyed. And it must be admitted that the support by a "producer" (the Standard Oil company) with deeper pockets than any Flaherty had ever ...more