''Gorillas in the Mist'' is a 1988 American
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Michael Apted
Michael David Apted, (10 February 1941 – 7 January 2021) was a British television and film director and producer.
Apted began working in television and directed the '' Up'' documentary series (1964–2019). He later directed '' Coal Miner's ...
and starring
Sigourney Weaver
Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver (; born October 8, 1949) is an American actress. A figure in science fiction and popular culture, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Gram ...
as the
naturalist Dian Fossey
Dian Fossey (, January 16, 1932 – ) was an American primatologist and conservationist known for undertaking an extensive study of mountain gorilla groups from 1966 until her murder in 1985. She studied them daily in the mountain forests of R ...
. It tells the story of her work in
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
with
mountain gorilla
The mountain gorilla (''Gorilla beringei beringei'') is one of the two subspecies of the eastern gorilla. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN as of 2018.
There are two populations: One is found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central/ ...
s and was nominated for five
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
.
Plot
Occupational therapist
Dian Fossey
Dian Fossey (, January 16, 1932 – ) was an American primatologist and conservationist known for undertaking an extensive study of mountain gorilla groups from 1966 until her murder in 1985. She studied them daily in the mountain forests of R ...
(
Sigourney Weaver
Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver (; born October 8, 1949) is an American actress. A figure in science fiction and popular culture, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Gram ...
) is inspired by anthropologist
Louis Leakey
Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey (7 August 1903 – 1 October 1972) was a Kenyan-British palaeoanthropologist and archaeologist whose work was important in demonstrating that humans evolved in Africa, particularly through discoveries made at Olduvai ...
(
Iain Cuthbertson
Iain Cuthbertson (4 January 1930 – 4 September 2009) was a Scottish character actor and theatre director. He was known for his tall imposing build and also his distinctive gravelly, heavily accented voice. He had lead roles in ''The Border ...
) to devote her life to the study of primates. She writes ceaselessly to Leakey for a job cataloging and studying the rare
mountain gorilla
The mountain gorilla (''Gorilla beringei beringei'') is one of the two subspecies of the eastern gorilla. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN as of 2018.
There are two populations: One is found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central/ ...
s of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. Following him to a lecture in Louisville, Kentucky in 1966, she convinces him of her conviction.
They travel to the
Congo, where Leakey and his foundation equip her to make contact with the gorillas, and introduce her to a local animal tracker, Sembagare (John Omirah Miluwi). Settling deep in the jungle, Fossey and Sembagare locate a troop of gorillas, but are displaced by the events of the
Congo Crisis
The Congo Crisis (french: Crise congolaise, link=no) was a period of political upheaval and conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crisis began almost immediately after ...
and forcibly evicted from their research site by Congolese soldiers, who accuse Fossey of being a foreign spy and agitator.
Fossey is resigned to returning to the United States, but Sembagare and her temporary host
Rosamond Carr
Rosamond Carr (née Halsey) (August 28, 1912 – September 29, 2006) was an American humanitarian and author.Martin, Douglas ''The New York Times'', October 8, 2006. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
She was born in South Orange, New Jersey. In 1942, she ...
(
Julie Harris
Julia Ann Harris (December 2, 1925August 24, 2013) was an American actress. Renowned for her classical and contemporary stage work, she received five Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play.
Harris debuted on Broadway in 1945, against the wish ...
) motivate her to stay in Africa. Fossey establishes new research efforts in the jungles of neighboring
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
, where rampant
poaching
Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.
Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...
and
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
become apparent when she discovers several traps near her
new base at Karisoke. Nevertheless, Fossey and her colleagues make headway with the gorillas, taking account of their communication and social groups. Her work impresses Leakey and gains international attention.
''
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
'', which funds her efforts, dispatches photographer
Bob Campbell (
Bryan Brown
Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include ''Breaker Morant'' (1980), ' ...
) to highlight her research. Fossey, initially unreceptive, grows increasingly attached to Campbell after several photo sessions with the gorillas, and the two become lovers, in spite of Campbell's marriage. Campbell proposes to divorce his wife and marry Fossey but insists that she would have to spend time away from Karisoke and her gorillas, leading her to end their relationship. Fossey forms an emotional bond with a gorilla named Digit, and attempts to prevent the export of other gorillas by trader Van Vecten (Constantin Alexandrov).
Appalled by the poaching of the gorillas for their skins, hands, and heads, Fossey complains to the
Rwandan government and is dismissed, but a government minister (Waigwa Wachira) promises to hire an anti-poaching squad. Fossey's frustrations reach a climax when Digit is beheaded by poachers. She leads numerous anti-poaching patrols, burns down the poachers' villages, and even stages a mock execution of one of the offenders, serving to alienate some of her research assistants and gaining her various enemies. Sembagare expresses concern at Fossey’s opposition to the emergent industry of gorilla tourism, but she nonchalantly dismisses his worries.
On December 27, 1985, Dian Fossey is murdered in the bedroom of her cabin by an unseen assailant. At a funeral attended by Sembagare, Carr, and others, she is buried in the same cemetery where Digit and other gorillas had been laid to rest. Sembagare symbolically links the graves of Fossey and Digit with stones as a sign that their souls rest in peace together before leaving.
The epilogue text explains that Fossey’s actions helped save the gorillas from extinction, while her death remains a mystery.
Cast
*
Sigourney Weaver
Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver (; born October 8, 1949) is an American actress. A figure in science fiction and popular culture, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Gram ...
as
Dian Fossey
Dian Fossey (, January 16, 1932 – ) was an American primatologist and conservationist known for undertaking an extensive study of mountain gorilla groups from 1966 until her murder in 1985. She studied them daily in the mountain forests of R ...
*
Bryan Brown
Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include ''Breaker Morant'' (1980), ' ...
as
Bob Campbell
*
Julie Harris
Julia Ann Harris (December 2, 1925August 24, 2013) was an American actress. Renowned for her classical and contemporary stage work, she received five Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play.
Harris debuted on Broadway in 1945, against the wish ...
as
Roz Carr
* John Omirah Miluwi as Sembagare
*
Iain Cuthbertson
Iain Cuthbertson (4 January 1930 – 4 September 2009) was a Scottish character actor and theatre director. He was known for his tall imposing build and also his distinctive gravelly, heavily accented voice. He had lead roles in ''The Border ...
as Dr.
Louis Leakey
Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey (7 August 1903 – 1 October 1972) was a Kenyan-British palaeoanthropologist and archaeologist whose work was important in demonstrating that humans evolved in Africa, particularly through discoveries made at Olduvai ...
* Constantin Alexandrov as Van Vecten
* Waigwa Wachira as Mukara
*
Iain Glen
Iain Alan Sutherland Glen (born 24 June 1961) is a Scottish actor. Glen is best known for his roles as Dr. Alexander Isaacs/Tyrant in three films of the ''Resident Evil'' film series (2004–2016) and as Ser Jorah Mormont in the HBO fantasy t ...
as Brendan
* David Lansbury as Larry
*
Maggie O'Neill
Margaret "Maggie" O'Neill (born 15 November 1962) is an English actress. She is known for her television roles in ''Peak Practice'' (2000–2002), '' Shameless'' (2004–2007) and ''EastEnders'' (2008). In 1986 she appeared in the music video f ...
as Kim
* Konga Mbandu as Rushemba
*
Michael J. Reynolds as Howard Dowd
* Gordon Masten as the Photographer
* Peter Nduati as Batwa chief
*
Helen Fraser as Mme. Van Vecten
* John Alexander as Mime Artist
*
Peter Elliott as Mime Artist
* Denise Cheshire as Mime Artist
* Antonio Hoyos as Mime Artist
* Jody St. Michael as Mime Artist
*
David Maddock
David Rokeby Maddock (30 May 1915 - 20 August 1984) was Bishop of Dunwich from 1967 to 1976.
He was born on 30 May 1915 and educated at Clifton College and St Catherine's College, Oxford.
After ordination he was a curate at Chard and then Vicar ...
as himself
Production
The screenplay was adapted by
Anna Hamilton Phelan
Anna Hamilton Phelan is an American actress and scriptwriter. She has been nominated for an Oscar for her work on ''Gorillas in the Mist'', and was also nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for her work on ''Mask''.
Life
Phelan grew ...
from articles by
Alex Shoumatoff
Alexander Shoumatoff (born November 4, 1946) is an American writer known for his literary journalism, nature and environmental writing, and books and magazine pieces about political and environmental situations and world affairs. He was a staff ...
and
Harold T. P. Hayes and a story by Phelan and
Tab Murphy
Tab Murphy is an American screenwriter, film producer, film director, and television writer.
Biography
Murphy's theatrical debut, ''Gorillas in the Mist'', was nominated for an Academy Award for his writing. In 1995, Murphy made his directorial ...
. The original music score was composed by
Maurice Jarre
Maurice-Alexis Jarre (; 13 September 1924 – 28 March 2009)allmusic Biography/ref> was a French composer and conductor. Although he composed several concert works, Jarre is best known for his film scores, particularly for his collaborations with ...
. The movie was directed by
Michael Apted
Michael David Apted, (10 February 1941 – 7 January 2021) was a British television and film director and producer.
Apted began working in television and directed the '' Up'' documentary series (1964–2019). He later directed '' Coal Miner's ...
and the cinematography was by
John Seale
John Clement Seale ACS ASC (born 5 October 1942) is an Australian cinematographer. He won an Oscar for his work in the 1996 film ''The English Patient,'' in addition to a BAFTA and Satellite Award. He is a member of both the Australian Cin ...
.
Soundtrack
*
Peggy Lee
Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...
– "
September in the Rain
"September in the Rain" is a popular song about nostalgia by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, published in 1937. The song was introduced by James Melton in the film '' Melody for Two''. It has become a standard, having been recorded by many artists ...
" (written by
Harry Warren
Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna; December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981) was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song ...
&
Al Dubin
Alexander Dubin (June 10, 1891 – February 11, 1945) was an American lyricist. He is best known for his collaborations with the composer Harry Warren.
Life
Al Dubin came from a Russian Jewish family that emigrated to the United States from Swi ...
)
* Peggy Lee – "
It's a Good Day
"It's a Good Day" is a popular song written by Peggy Lee and her husband Dave Barbour and published in 1946. Peggy Lee's recording reached the Billboard charts in January, 1947 peaking at No. 16.
Other Recordings
The song has been recorded by m ...
" (written by Peggy Lee &
Dave Barbour
David Michael Barbour (May 28, 1912 – December 11, 1965) was an American jazz guitarist. He was married to singer Peggy Lee and was her co-writer, accompanist, and bandleader.
Biography
Barbour was born in Long Island, New York, United States ...
)
* Peggy Lee – "
Sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
" (written by
Maceo Pinkard
Maceo Pinkard (June 27, 1897 – July 21, 1962) was an American composer, lyricist, and music publisher. Among his compositions is "Sweet Georgia Brown", a popular standard for decades after its composition and famous as the theme of the Harlem ...
&
Sidney D. Mitchell
Sidney D. Mitchell (June 15, 1888 in Baltimore, Maryland – February 25, 1942 in Los Angeles, California) was a Hollywood film industry lyricist and composer.
Mitchell is best known for his collaborations with Lew Pollack on movie scores a ...
&
Edna Alexander)
Release
Critical reception
The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with many praising both Weaver's performance and the technical accomplishments of the movie while some were frustrated by the lack of depth in Fossey's on-screen characterization.
"At last,
eavermay have found a part cut to her scale." wrote Hal Hinson of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''. "It's a great role for her to pour herself into, and she doesn't skimp." However, he had his misgivings about the restrictions placed on Fossey's character: "The chief problem with ''Gorillas in the Mist'' is that it banalizes its heroine; it turns her into one of us. And by all accounts Fossey was anything but ordinary." He also accused the filmmakers of toning down Fossey's unstable mental state: "Fossey was more than merely eccentric...The movie hints at these aspects of her character but tries to soften them;...the filmmakers have done more than sanitize Fossey's life, they've deprived it of any meaning." Hinson concluded that "''Gorillas in the Mist'' isn't a terrible film, but it is a frustrating one."
While
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
was also happy with the casting of Weaver as Fossey ("It is impossible to imagine a more appropriate choice for the role"), he felt the character was too distanced from the audience and that her development and motives were unclear. "''Gorillas in the Mist'' tells us what Dian Fossey accomplished and what happened to her, but it doesn't tell us who she was, and at the end that's what we want to know." However, Ebert was impressed by the scenes with the gorillas and the way live footage of gorillas was seamlessly blended with gorilla costumes: "Everything looked equally real to me, and the delicacy with which director Michael Apted developed the relationships between woman and beast was deeply absorbing. There were moments when I felt a touch of awe. Those moments, which are genuine, make the movie worth seeing."
Hinson also agreed that "whenever the cameras turn on the gorillas — who are the film's true stars — you feel you're witnessing something truly great."
The film holds an 85% fresh rating at
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 20 critics' reviews, with an average review of 6.8/10.
Box-office
''Gorillas in the Mist'' started an exclusive run on 15 screens on September 23, 1988 and grossed $366,925.
[ It expanded to 558 screens the following weekend and was the number one film for the weekend with a gross of $3,451,230.][ The film went on to gross $24,720,479 in the United States and Canada and $36,429,000 internationally for a worldwide total of $61,149,479.][
]
Accolades
The film is recognized by American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
in these lists:
* 2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains:
** Dian Fossey
Dian Fossey (, January 16, 1932 – ) was an American primatologist and conservationist known for undertaking an extensive study of mountain gorilla groups from 1966 until her murder in 1985. She studied them daily in the mountain forests of R ...
– Nominated Hero
* 2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – Nominated
Notes
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey
1988 films
1980s adventure drama films
1980s biographical drama films
American adventure drama films
American biographical drama films
Biographical films about scientists
Environmental films
Films about animal rights
Films directed by Michael Apted
Films featuring a Best Drama Actress Golden Globe-winning performance
Films set in Africa
Films about gorillas
Films set in Rwanda
Films shot in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Universal Pictures films
Warner Bros. films
Films scored by Maurice Jarre
Films shot in Kenya
Films shot in England
Films shot in Rwanda
Films shot in Toronto
Films set in 1966
Films set in 1985
Films with screenplays by Tab Murphy
1988 drama films
1980s English-language films
1980s American films