MAN OF ARAN
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Your contributor Janus has made some cutting comments on the Man of Aran film, but I do not think he knows Aran, for he talks of atmosphere and realism as being the feature of the picture. Twice I have seen the film. The first view wearied me, but as I know the island I thought I ought to see it again in case my judgement had been tem- porarily warped. It came to Borough Green, near Wrotham, in August, and now it can be seen at the safest of all picture houses, the Polytechnic. My second impressions were but a stronger first. Man of Aran may be magnificent photo- graphy, but it misses the atmosphere of the island. Its realism is something evolved in the mind of Robert Flaherty, producer, and has no relation to life on the island. No man swings a hammer, as Tiger King does in the film, in order to make a potato patch ; and no woman pokes into crannies of the rocks for soil as Maggie is made to do. Folk working like that would be thought queer. The hunting of the shark for oil—I question if there be anyone alive who remembers such a thing. There are schools and churches on the island, and a
community life with some colour in it. A documentary film built up around these things might yet be worth while.
The atmosphere and realism of the island has been cap- tured by an O'Flaherty, Liam O'Flaherty. He knows the soul of the island. His shots would be sure if he helped in an Aran picture, but he lacks a Hollywood education.—Yours
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