GORILLAS IN THE MIST [1988] review
July 18, 2010 · Print This Article
Due to watching a lot of an Animal Planet show called Escape to Chimp Eden, I finally decided to watch GORILLAS IN THE MIST. I now know I knew absolutely nothing of the Dian Fossey story, as I was quite shocked by all the events at the end of the movie. I also did not know I was seeing real gorillas on screen as much as there were, and especially that Sigourney Weaver just went out and interacted even with the silverback right away.
The opening of the movie was great (though not factually true). Her whirlwind life transfer to Africa and immediate travel to the mountain jungles brought a smile to my face as I know what it is like to travel dozens of hours and then be surprised to find that rest is not next on the schedule.
Her tracker character in the film, Sembagare, was very well introduced and acted. He was a needed constant in the story.
Seeing how Sigourney learned how basically on her own to interact and study the gorillas was the highlight of the movie. Her descent into craziness in the last act of the movie was an unexpected and unwelcome turn of events. Some of her craziest acts (burning of houses, pretending to hang a man) I learned were fictitious, and I think a poor decision on the director”s part to include. The viewer loses a bit of sympathy for Dian because of this which is further compounded by a rather abrupt ending.
This is not a feel-good movie, despite the fact that Dian’s efforts led directly to the preservation of gorillas.
RELATED POSTS:
Comments
Got something to say?