Shortly after the end of WWII, Standard Oil was looking for a director for their new PR films. The choice fell upon Flaherty, in the wake of Nanook of the North and the world fame he had earned from that film. Flaherty scored some hefty financing and obtained sole ownership and distribution of the film - which was definitely innovative for that time.
Louisiana Story portrays a group of cajun families in the Mississippi Delta. They are descendants of French settlers in Canada in the mid-1700s who were kicked out by the English on the Atlantic coast; they succeeded in reaching the French colony of Louisiana - where meet up with teams of workers searching for oil. Flaherty's interest in the lives of his subjects is as keen as ever, and he fully explores the customs, habits and lifestyles of the bayou people. Non-professional actors were used to better represent the typical fisher-hunter of the region and his familiarity with the river and the abundant flora and fauna. Local people were chosen for family roles - the best way to get actors who certainly looked the part. This was all part of his mission that involved a lean story-line to provide the basis for an exact documentation of people and the events of their lives, without any dramatic contrivances whatsoever.
Louisiana Story portrays a group of cajun families in the Mississippi Delta. They are descendants of French settlers in Canada in the mid-1700s who were kicked out by the English on the Atlantic coast; they succeeded in reaching the French colony of Louisiana - where meet up with teams of workers searching for oil. Flaherty's interest in the lives of his subjects is as keen as ever, and he fully explores the customs, habits and lifestyles of the bayou people. Non-professional actors were used to better represent the typical fisher-hunter of the region and his familiarity with the river and the abundant flora and fauna. Local people were chosen for family roles - the best way to get actors who certainly looked the part. This was all part of his mission that involved a lean story-line to provide the basis for an exact documentation of people and the events of their lives, without any dramatic contrivances whatsoever.
