People of the Forest (1988)
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 85 minuten
Alternative titles: People of the Forest: The Chimps of Gombe / Mensen van het Oerwoud
Country:
Tanzania / United States
Directed by: Hugo van Lawick
Stars: Donald Sutherland
IMDb score:
8,3 (130)
Releasedate: 1 January 1988
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
People of the Forest plot
For 20 years Hugo van Lawick filmed the joys and sorrows of a chimpanzee family in East Africa. We follow Fifi, a five-year-old chimpanzee, until she is an adult mother of three children. All kinds of elements that are comparable to our daily lives are reflected in this nature film. Such as ups and downs, jealousy, quarrels and reconciliations, 'right of the fittest' and family ties.
Reviews & comments
Ebenezer Scrooge
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- 2150 messages
- 3092 votes
Tipped by none other than Jane Goodall, in Wintergast last Monday. Kind of a choice film, actually.
A very poignant nature film, the chimpanzees in Tanzania have been filmed for 20 years. Goodall had been observing the chimpanzees since 1962 and was now on good terms with them; her acquired knowledge and discoveries are also reflected in the film: the use of tools, for example.
Touching to see how the monkeys live, you empathize with every character: Flo, Flint, Fifi, Faben... or the antisocial Olly Longface, who raises her daughter Gilka a little too protectively, I could identify with her completely haha.. And also super cute: the baby chimpanzees spinning around like crazy, or the skillful swinging of those branches.. Building a nest high in the tree also looks so terribly sweet. Beautiful, melodic music that occasionally reminds of Prokofiev.
Everything well dosed: the music, the images, the commentary. The film was voiced by Donald Sutherland, but I have seen the Dutch version.
The film looks outdated and out of focus, but I think that the blur is appropriate for a nature film like this, as if it shows unintentional respect for their world, their territory.
The ending is heartbreaking, but also spiritual at the same time, my heart broke.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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