When compared side-by-side, Dziga Vertov’s documentary Man with a Movie Camera (1929) and Robert Flaherty’s “Nanook of the North” provide examples of just how diverse the world of documentary filmmaking can be. Man with a Movie Camera is abstract in its purely observational nature, whereas Nanook of the North approaches defined subjects that are edited and manipulated in order to tell a story and create an illustration of a real lifestyle in a less-than-real manner. Flaherty was very aware of his manipulation and is quoted explaining to Nanook, “do you know that you and your men may have to give up making a kill if it interferes with my film? Will you remember that it is the picture of you hunting the walrus that I want, and not their meat?”(Silver, “Robert Flaherty’s Nanook of the North, One World Magazine).

Unless a documentary is entirely cimena verite, manipulation and adjustment from reality seems inevitable. The editing process itself is a manipulation of reality, as an editor sifts through hours of footage to uncover a story. Additionally, any time a subject is aware of themselves being filmed, they are prone to alter themselves from their natural behavior. Because of this, it is interesting to explore the actual meaning of documentary, and argue the line between documentary and narrative filmmaking.

Vertov holds an interesting perspective on the opposite side of this spectrum of documentary. He saw the camera as a sort of innocent machine that could record the world without bias or superfluous aesthetic considerations (Dawson, Senses of Cinema, Dziga Vertov). Vertov seemed to use a camera as a tool to find cohesiveness in an otherwise chaotic environment. Rather than manipulate his subjects, he allowed them to lead him to a form of visual truth.

It is impossible to say for certain which form of documentary filmmaking is more honest or pure, as manipulated documentary exposes an abstract truth, and the manipulation allows for greater creative control which compliments the art and craftsmanship of filmmaking, while observational documentary provides a more objective and pure lens into an untouched reality, pointing out facts of life that may otherwise be lost in daily chaos. This spectrum allows for such rich variety in film, and I believe it is this creative freedom that allows for fascinating perspectives to shine through a documentary in both an honest and artistic manner.