Gorillas in the Mist
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Movie Reviews of Gorillas in the Mist
Movie Review: Sigourney Scores
Summary: 4 Stars
Exciting true-life story of Dian Fossey, the American woman who fought to save the mountain gorillas of central Africa from extinction. The film makers faced considerable obstacles in reaching the remote area of Rwanda where Fossey worked and was originally planned to be made prior to Fossey's murder in 1985, but the film--directed by Michael Apted--is nonetheless so fluidly told that most of these limitations don't show on screen. Although the excellent on-location photography is essential to Gorillas' success, the film's greatest asset is Sigourney Weaver's bigger-than-life presence as Fossey. Weaver's tremendous physique--used so effectively in making her a match for the creatures of Alien series--allows her to hold her ground with the huge gorillas. Always a charismatic on film, Weaver meets the heroic demands of the film, whether confronting poachers, communicating with gorillas, mourning their loss, or even--in the least interesting aspect of the film--falling in love with Bryan Brown as the National Geographic photographer Bob Campbell. Probably no other American actress in the 1980s could have risen to this challenge as she did. The all-too seldom seen Julie Harris also has a small part as a Rwandan plantation owner and adds her own luminosity to her few scenes. Rick Baker ingeniously handled the film's make-up, mixing both made-up and real gorillas. As suggested above, the film does have a few drawbacks: much like the relationship between Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in 1985's Out of Africa, the romance between Weaver and Brown feels tacked on, and it is less interesting than her relationship to the gorillas. Also, Weaver's descent into seeming madness (which Weaver's unexplained coughing in the last section of the film suggests may have been prompted by her declining health) occurs suddenly in the sequence immediately following the end of her romance with Brown. I wonder how Weaver's charactermight have been developed at the end of the film had not Fossey's murder occurred while the film was still being planned: would the end of her romance with Brown have been the end of the film, with a conclusion emphasizing the courage of her decision? And, if so, is that why the final mad sequence occurs so suddenly?
Movie Review: Quite the Close Encounter!
Summary: 4 Stars
Ah, PBS. Periodically I'll check it, mostly out of moribund curiosity (and little else). Occasionally public television will have something on that warrants a second glance; and recently I stumbled across PBS showing GORILLAS IN THE MIST. As I had never seen this highly-acclaimed Sigourney Weaver movie, I pulled up a chair and watched this powerful biography of environmentalist/animal rights activist Dian Fossey. The viewer is treated to quite the transformation of Ms. Fossey (and Weaver is the convincing vessel)--from meek, timid marm to brash, and quite frankly, petulant and neurotic radical. By the end of this film you don't want to get on Dian Fossey's bad side; of course, several poachers and corrupt government officials do, and things kind of turn out. . .ugly.
But the true wonder and awe of this beautifully filmed movie has to do with the actual contact with wild gorillas, you know, in the mist. These aren't people dressed up as apes, these aren't trained animals--these are the real deal, with Weaver and co-star Bryan Brown and a handful of the other actors making close encounters of the very realistic kind. Especially Weaver; as I watched her interact with the gorillas, as some of them playfully jump over her or groom her, I wondered what was going through director Michael Apted's mind. (Probably something like, "I hope that Lloyd's policy we have on Sigourney is in force!") Filmed in the mountains of Rwanda, this interaction between man (well, woman) and beast is so vividly stunning; I found myself picking my jaw up off the floor more than once. Small wonder Weaver received an Oscar nomination for this role. After holding hands with a wild silver back male she deserved it.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning
Movie Review: A few things you should know about 'Gorillas in the Mist'
Summary: 4 Stars
Despite the requisite Hollywood cliches, this is a great film. Dian Fossey didn't know what she was getting into when she volunteered to go to Africa, working for Dr. Louis Leakey in taking a census of the endangered Mountain Gorillas. She didn't realise she was expected to work alone, in a remote mountain hut, and in a country torn by civil war...
But she came to love the subjects of her study so much that nothing could prize her from the mountain, not even the (human) man she eventually fell in love with. "When you look deep into a gorilla's eyes," she wrote, "your life is changed forever."
The blacks thought she was a witch, due to her reddish hair and fierce glance (captured well by actress Sigourney Weaver, although the real Dian was apparently a bit more shy than Sigourney's character). But this witchlike image actually helped to scare the poachers off. And Dian's work helped prevent the gorillas from becoming extinct. But unfortunately she was murdered by cowardly scum...black poachers in the pay of white animal traffickers. Too often the best are cut down before their life's work is finished...
One other thing to note is the incredible beauty of the landscapes, filmed on location in the mountains of Rwanda. The result is a worthy tribute to this wildlife warrior, who is most now probably in Asgard, feasting at Freyja's very table (with a gorilla at her side, no doubt).
You may also enjoy Time Struggle 1: The Wolves of Odin (Volume 1).
Movie Review: In the mind of a gorilla
Summary: 4 Stars
We must thank the director and salute Sigourney Weaver's beautiful performance: this movie gives us a rare insight into the lives and minds of the gentle, yet ferocious, giant mountains gorillas. It is also the amazing journey of an extroardinary woman who went to live by herself in a remote mountain of Rwanda, secluded from the world. She lost much of her sanity, as well as her life, in the process of saving the lives of a few hundred remaining gorillas. Without her work, who knows who could have saved them from savage murder and total extinction? Thanks to her work and dedication, a "lost cause" had been heard at last.
The struggle for the survival of the "Great Apes" is not totally over though. One must hope that the abject poverty and the political unrest that still affect the region, as well as the illegal poaching and smuggling of goods and animals across borders - that happen with or without government officials' approval in each country involved - and the continuing deforestation and fauna's loss of habitat, can one day all come to an end so that the survival of these amazing creatures can be achieved.
One must recognize the sacrifices and thank people like Diane Fossey, conservationists around the world, and the Rwandese people in particular, who have made it possible so far despite great internal economic and political pressures. All hope is not lost!
Movie Review: Biographical account of Dian Fossey, mountain gorilla guru in Congo/Rwanda
Summary: 4 Stars
Very interesting movie about Dian Fossey, a dedicated conservationist that dedicated her life to preserving mountain gorillas. She was a bit crazy - no doubt about it, but very dedicated. The movie takes place in the Congo, then moves to Rwanda when Fossey is kicked out of the Congo. From other sources, the movie is not all that accurate, but what movie is? It gets the main points right, and it makes for a compelling movie. The downsides from my point of view were 1. the romance, which, since this is Hollywood, was way overdone, 2. the incessant coughing by Dian Fossey - so she smoked? She didn't die from lung cancer - why do we have to listen to her cough the whole movie - why get that one fact so accurate when they distort so many other aspects of the movie? and 3. Why is she so dedicated to these gorillas? She gets a little crazy at some points.
Overall a good movie and worth a watch - the scenery from Africa is really great.