''Louisiana Story'' is a 1948 American
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Robert J. Flaherty
Robert Joseph Flaherty, (; February 16, 1884 – July 23, 1951) was an American filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature-length documentary film, '' Nanook of the North'' (1922). The film made his reputati ...
. Although it has historically been represented as a
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
, the events and characters depicted are fictional and the film was commissioned by the
Standard Oil Company
Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...
to promote its drilling ventures in the Louisiana
bayou
In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...
s. There is not enough factual or educational material in the film to even warrant classifying it as
docufiction
Docufiction (or docu-fiction) is the cinematographic combination of documentary and fiction, this term often meaning narrative film. It is a film genre which attempts to capture reality such as it is (as direct cinema or cinéma vérité) and ...
. Its script was written by
Frances H. Flaherty
Frances Hubbard Flaherty (December 5, 1883 – June 22, 1972) was a film writer and director known for ''Louisiana Story'' (1948) — for which she received an Academy Awards, Academy Award nomination for Best Original Story — ''The Land'' ...
and Robert J. Flaherty.
Plot
The film deals with the adventures of a young
Cajun
The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
While Cajuns are usually described as ...
boy and his pet raccoon, who live a somewhat idyllic existence playing in the
bayou
In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...
s of Louisiana. A sub-plot involves his elderly father allowing an oil company to drill for oil in the inlet that runs behind their house. An inland barge is towed into the inlet from interconnecting waterways. Most if not all of South Louisiana swamps and inland waters without land access were and are explored using dredged channels and barge rigs. The film presents the rig crew tripping pipe (an oilfield operations term), changing a bit, and closing valves on the blow out preventers. The rig crew are not actors, they are actual roughnecks. Even though there is a moment of probable manufactured crisis when the rig drills into a trouble zone, the crew's actions are not choreographed per se. The time frame is pre-OSHA, however there are serious doubts that drillers at that time allowed unshoed kids to hang out on the rig floor - ever. As the story progresses the rig completes its operation and friendly drillers depart, leaving behind a phenomenally clean environment and a wealthy Cajun family.
Conflict and action for the plot is provided by the presence of a giant alligator in the area, which is believed to have eaten the pet raccoon and which is hunted in revenge. There is no individual or organized resistance to the incursion of the oil seekers, even after the (brief, offscreen) disaster, who are unequivocally portrayed as friendly, progressive humanitarians.
The boy, named in the film as Alexander Napoleon Ulysses Le Tour, but in the credits just identified as "the boy", was played by Joseph Boudreaux. The film was photographed by
Richard Leacock
Richard Leacock (18 July 192123 March 2011)
The Telegraph (Lon ...
and edited by
Helen van Dongen, who were also the associate producers. Its original release was through independent film distributor
Lopert Films.
l=
* Joseph Boudreaux as The Boy
* Lionel Le Blanc as His Father
* E. Bienvenu as His Mother (as Mrs. E. Bienvenu)
* Frank Hardy as The Driller
* C.P. Guedry as The Boilerman
Production
The film was shot on location in the Louisiana bayou country,
using local residents for actors. However, none of the members of the Cajun family (boy, father and mother) were related, and the film does not deal with Cajun culture, the reality of the hard lives of the Cajun people, or with the mechanics of drilling for oil. The story is completely fictional.
In 1952, it was reissued by an
exploitation film
An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...
outfit with a new title, ''Cajun'', on the bottom half of a double-bill with another film titled ''Watusi''.
Reception and awards
The film was nominated for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for
Best Writing, Motion Picture Story in 1948.
In 1949,
Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclassic ...
won the
Pulitzer Prize for Music
The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted i ...
for his score to the film (which is based on a famous field tape of authentic Cajun musicians and was performed by the Philadelphia Symphony). Through 2021, this has remained the only Pulitzer Prize awarded for a film score. In 1994, ''Louisiana Story'' was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...
by the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The movie was also in the top 10 of the first British Film Institute's ''
Sight and Sound
''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...
'' poll in 1952.
The film is recognized by the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
in these lists:
* 2005:
AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores
Part of the AFI 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores is a list of the top 25 film scores in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute in 2005.
John Williams has the most scores in the top 25, with three ...
– Nominated
See also
*
Docufiction
Docufiction (or docu-fiction) is the cinematographic combination of documentary and fiction, this term often meaning narrative film. It is a film genre which attempts to capture reality such as it is (as direct cinema or cinéma vérité) and ...
*
List of docufiction films {{Short description, none
This is a list of docufiction feature-length films ordered chronologically.
Please search for references inside each article:
*1926: '' Moana'' by Robert Flaherty, USA
*1930: '' Maria do Mar'' by Leitão de Barros, Port ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
*
Patricia A. Suchy and James V. Catano, "Revisiting Flaherty's ''Louisiana Story''", ''Southern Spaces'' (27 April 2010)* ''Louisiana Story'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, Bloomsbury Academic, 2010 , pages 419-42
{{Authority control
1948 films
United States National Film Registry films
Films directed by Robert Flaherty
Films set in Louisiana
Films shot in Louisiana
Southern Gothic films
Sponsored films
American docufiction films
Works about petroleum
Pulitzer Prize for Music-winning works
Films about raccoons
1940s American films