or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
More Buying Choices
26 used & new from $14.99

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

or

Get a $3.75 Amazon.com Gift Card
 
   
Watch It Now
 
Rent and watch now:$2.99
 
 
Buy and watch now:$9.99
 
 
 
 
Louisiana Story
 
See larger image
 

Louisiana Story (1948)

Starring: Joseph Boudreaux, Lionel Le Blanc Director: Robert J. Flaherty Rating: NR (Not Rated) Format: DVD
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

List Price: $29.95
Price: $26.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details
You Save: $2.96 (10%)
  Special Offers Available
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Monday, November 23? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
18 new from $21.38 8 used from $14.99
ony BDP S360 Blu-ray Player
Buy a Blu-ray Player and Save $10 on Select Blu-ray Hits
For a limited time, buy a Sony BDP S360 Blu-ray Player and get $10 off as many as 20 select Blu-ray movies and TV shows. Hurry, offer ends November 21. Learn more.

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this DVD with Little Chenier: A Cajun Story DVD ~ Johnathon Schaech

Louisiana Story + Little Chenier: A Cajun Story
  • This item: Louisiana Story DVD ~ Joseph Boudreaux

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details

  • Little Chenier: A Cajun Story DVD ~ Johnathon Schaech

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details


Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • Buy any DVD shipped and sold by Amazon.com and you can get a 12-issue subscription to either Rolling Stone, Men's Journal or Us Weekly for only $1. Here's how (restrictions apply)
  • Buy a Blu-ray Player and Save on Blu-ray Movies. For a limited time, save $10 on as many as 20 select movies and TV shows on Blu-ray when you buy a Sony BDP S360 Blu-ray player. Hurry, offer ends November 21. See more.


What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?


Product Details

  • Actors: Joseph Boudreaux, Lionel Le Blanc, E. Bienvenu, Frank Hardy, C.P. Guedry
  • Directors: Robert J. Flaherty
  • Writers: Robert J. Flaherty, Frances H. Flaherty
  • Producers: Richard Leacock, Robert J. Flaherty, Helen van Dongen
  • Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
  • Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rating: NR (Not Rated)
  • Studio: Homevision
  • DVD Release Date: May 20, 2003
  • Run Time: 78 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00008UALJ
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #29,512 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
  • For more information about "Louisiana Story" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Languid, raw, and majestic, Robert J. Flaherty's final documentary is something to behold. Shot in Cajun country in 1948, Louisiana Story is a tale of modernity intruding on an isolated river habitat for crocodiles, catfish, raccoons, and trappers. Within the setting's primitive and dangerous beauty we meet a shy young hero (played by a non-professional actor; a local river rat named Joseph Boudreaux), who spends lonely days steering his raft and padding along banks with feline authority. Into this rustic paradise comes a noisy oil derrick, pounding pipe through the riverbed toward subterranean pools of black goo. Funded by Standard Oil, Flaherty was accused of selling out and fabricating a pro-development "true story" about the boy's friendship with wildcat oilmen. But such complaints overshoot the poetic luster of Flaherty's nature visions: the mysterious interplay of moonlight, reflective waters, black currents, and swaying reeds. Superficially fact or fiction, this film is its own gorgeous truth. --Tom Keogh


Product Description

Nominated for an Oscar® and the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for its musical score, Robert J. Flaherty’s last masterpiece is a visually stunning, lyrical tribute to a land and its people. Flaherty’s poetic vision of nature and the human spirit fills every frame of this amazing film. Through the eyes of a young Cajun boy living on the Bayou, Flaherty tells a story of disruption and change when an oil rig brings industry into his pristine world. Listed on the National Film Registry as a national treasure, Louisiana Story has finally been restored to its original glory.

Academy Award™ and Oscar™ are the registered trademarks and service marks of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Man of Aran

Man of Aran

DVD ~ Colman 'Tiger' King
4.8 out of 5 stars (9)  $26.99
Little Chenier: A Cajun Story

Little Chenier: A Cajun Story

DVD ~ Johnathon Schaech
4.1 out of 5 stars (19)  $22.49
The Plow That Broke the Plains & The River / Gil-Ordonez, Post-Classical Ensemble

The Plow That Broke the Plains & The River / Gil-Ordonez, Post-Classical Ensemble

DVD ~ Virgil Thomson
4.7 out of 5 stars (7)  $17.99
Nanook of the North (Criterion Collection Spine #33)

Nanook of the North (Criterion Collection Spine #33)

DVD ~ Allakariallak
4.8 out of 5 stars (21)  $26.99
The City: The Classic 1939 Documentary with a newly recorded soundtrack of the score by Aaron Copland

The City: The Classic 1939 Documentary with a newly recorded soundtrack of the score by Aaron Copland

DVD ~ Post-Classical Ensemble
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  $17.99
Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

 

Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and lyrical, March 22, 2004
By A Customer
This film is visually stunning. The images are quite simply breathtaking - the black and white photography is crisp, clean, and luminous. The film seems to have been lit from within. Our first view of the Cajun boy in his pirogue is touching and jaw-droppingly beautiful. The opening sequence has got to be one of the loveliest things ever filmed, and for that reason alone it's worth a look. The nature scenes are the most evocative, but I found the images of the men working on the oil derrick beautiful and strangely sublime as well.

The film is also a brief snapshot of what life in south Louisiana was like at that time - unspoiled and rustic and filled with a raw sort of beauty. The "actors" used in this film are achingly real. (And thus they are not always very good at what they are doing, especially the men on board the derrick - who are clearly more Texas than Louisiana.) I particularly enjoyed the boy's father and the scenes in which Cajun French is spoken; my mother is Cajun and let me tell you - this is the real thing. But the boy himself turns in the best performance - at times he is innocent and filled with awe, at other times he is full of mischief and "trop canaille" (to use his papa's words).

The story itself isn't really a story in the traditional sense, though there is enough of a narrative thread there to keep you entertained if you're in a quiet, patient mood. The scene where the boy tries to trap a gator is actually quite exciting, underscored as it is by the original score (which is excellent throughout).

In short, this film is perfect for anyone who truly understands and appreciates south Louisiana and its culture and is looking for something quiet and unique.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Louisiana Story by a Louisianne, October 8, 2000
By dezauche@earthlink.net (San Juan Capistrano) - See all my reviews
This is a random film about life in rural Louisiana during the invasion of the "big oil" boom after World War II. The director focuses on how simple and unchanged life in the swamp state was until the first oil derrick appears, and then the old life rapidly merges into the modern life of motor boats, electricity, and common prosperity. The quiet, solemn swamp is transformed into a noisy, bustling water highway. Robert Flaherty films local citizens in their natural habitat, speaking unrehearsed lines with natural French accents. This is the appeal of the film- all natural people, all natural settings, and improptu speech and action. For film study in black and white, and for the sheer simplicity of life before industrialization, this is the perfect choice. You will be left with an impression of innocence, of a time that is encapsulated in this film.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Another Robert Flaherty work of art, March 26, 2006
By Quilmiense (USA/Spain) - See all my reviews

The Bayou, Louisiana.

This documentary is shot with a beautiful black & white photography. The music perfectly matches the tempo and feeling of the story. Lasts only 75 minutes but captures our emotion and interest right from the first scene.

The box of the dvd misleads. It made me expect some kind of social reportage on the impact of oil industry in the pristine bayou wildlife. On the contrary (but that's for you to check).

The story is basically the life of a young and enchanting kid in the Bayou. His daily occupations, his relation with surrounding nature (its enchants and perils). It provokes an emotion similar to the reading of Huckelberry's adventures.

Again, as in all of Mr. Flaherty's documentaries, it's the sheer beauty of the photography and the wonderful capture of the expression of people's faces, real people, that make the viewing a humanly enriching experience.

I have to recommend, also of Mr. Flaherty, "The Man of Aran" and "Nanook of the North".
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating!
This film realistically depicts so many lost pieces of history in a bittersweet story. Filmed in the late 1940's, and using local people as actors, it recalls the beginning of the... Read more
Published on August 15, 2007 by M. Green

5.0 out of 5 stars Louisiana Story
Flaherty's brilliant, stark camera exposes civilization encroaching on nature, and the result is visual poetry. Read more
Published on August 11, 2005 by John Farr

1.0 out of 5 stars And now you see how our state was suckered into the oil biz
I came upon this film while browsing my university library. My curiosity was picqued, since my home state is rarely discussed beyond such topics as drinking (Mardi Gras) and... Read more
Published on July 11, 2005 by J.M.

3.0 out of 5 stars Sorry, This One's Over-rated
I have been making it a point to try and see all of the "great" movies. I've got a long ways to go but I've seen a lot already. Read more
Published on January 22, 2005 by Randy Keehn

5.0 out of 5 stars From the Director of Nanook of the North
Born on the Bayou! This is a great documentary-style film from Robert Flaherty, who brought us Nanook of the North, Tabu (with Murnau), and Man of Aran, among others. Read more
Published on March 20, 2004 by ixta_coyotl

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   




IMDb Says...

Learn more about Louisiana Story opens new browser window on IMDb.com opens new browser window the Internet Movie Database.
IMDb Logo

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)


Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.