The Frozen North

Finally, a documentary actually narrated by Dick Proennecke (Bob Swerer narrated the others). What makes this worthy is that there is much more of nature filmed by Dick (dare I call him that?). With reading his journals, he was patient with his subjects. What makes this fun and frustrating is that he is hard to understand. That is partially because he is reading a script based on his journals, and his speaking voice, or rather his reading voice is too fast to follow unless you know about what he us talking. He would use a tape recorder to read from his script, send it off to NPS to edit, then they would send back suggestions. It is really cool process (that I read about in another book, "Dick Proenneke- reflections on a man in his wilderness.")

This DvD was made in 1993 prior to Alone in the Wilderness 1&2, but would be better viewed as the third installment. If I were to have watched the Frozen North first, I would not have any clue about Dick Pronneke's wilderness talents and how he built his cabin and all the other wonderful things he did- yes there is a brief narration by Bob Swerer about it, but other than that, it just show a 1970 view of Dick's established living area.The Frozen North is mostly narrated by Dick Proenneke- his way of speaking is like one long run on sentence- very melodic and so nice to hear. The man really knew how to live and deal with the harshness of Alaska wilderness country- I secretly imagine that I could do what he did but I most likely die from a bee sting or freeze to death in the wilderness- Dick Proenneke rocks big time !

If you've seen the "Alone in the Wilderness" DVDs, and you have loved those, then this is a must-have to go along with them. This actually has Dick Proenneke's voice on it, which was a nice surprise to us. Bob Swerer does an excellent job on the narration of the "Alone in the Wilderness" DVDs, which he also produced, but it was good to hear the voice of the man who actually lived these experiences, as well. We so appreciate how he shared his wilderness life with all of us!

The very first time I heard about this video [...] I did a search on Alaska and I came across this video and by the time I watched that video I was amazed by the beauty of the Alaskan Wilderness cause of the mountains rivers lakes trees and animals it made me feel like I was actually in the wilderness myself not having to worry about people and every day life so I bought the full video[...] and I was not disappointed it looked good the way I pictured it so I give this video 5 stars what an amazing video I hope I get to live in twin lakes in a couple years from now=)

i enjoyed watching this film as a follow up to "One Man's Wilderness", which I viewed on PBS. This documentary contains the actual narrative of Dick Proenneke, something that gives the film a unique feel. There are also more shots of the wildlife that occupied the area, and Dick's perceptions on these critters is interesting for the viewer. I did miss the more in-depth look at how the cabin and tools were made that "One Man's Wilderness" provided, and think I will have to add that DVD to the collection as well. Both "The Frozen North" and "One Man's Wilderness" are worth having in any collection as a look into the human spirit.

Dick Proenneke's "Alone in the Wilderness" detailed the "how" of his life in Alaska. "The Frozen North" provides a view into the joys and risks of his chosen, isolated, way of living. It includes some footage of prior films, but with the valuable insight of the moment and beyond. One of the best features of this film is the narrator- Dick Proenneke. While his friend, Bob Swerer narrated his earlier features, this time we get to hear Proenneke himself. His manner of speech, understated emotion, and love of the challenging land he called home, makes this a wonderful hour-long experience.

If you have seen any of the videos about this extraordinary man, you will know that all of them are outstanding. A very talented man in word and photography, doing almost all of it by himself, setting up a movie camera in the 60s on a tripod and showing how he built a cabin and outbuildings manually without electricity or power tools, including the hand-carving of door hinges. You need to see this video series to believe it.

More great video from/about Dick. It's true, theres a lot more wildlife and nature footage than One Man's Wilderness, but the cabin's already been built so what else is there to show?! One of the best parts to me is getting to hear Dick's voice doing some of the narration, he's got a very unique and interesting cadence that I get a kick out of. If you watch close he also shows you how he prepares his sourdough biscuits.