Gorillas in the Mist is the story of Dian Fossey, an American who, in 1966, volunteered to travel to Africa to study the declining mountain gorilla population. She ended up spending over two decades there, not only researching, but also devoting herself to the preservation of the species and their habitat against immense odds.
Arriving in the Congo to find that her employer, Dr Louis Leakey, is actually going to Tanzania to work, she sets off for the mountains with her rag-tag bunch of local helpers, tracker, Sembagare, and a small truckload of personal effects such as her hair dryer, makeup kit and naughty night attire. Well, okay, the last is an exaggeration but it was obvious that she didn't really know what to expect.
It is many weeks before she actually spots any gorillas, and ultimately spends the next two decades studying, photographing and recording them. She learns more and more about them, eventually becoming obsessed with them. Her painstaking dedication means that the gorillas not only accept her being close to the group, they almost make her a part of it as they interact with her over many years. This closeness allows her to research them as no one ever before.
It is while she is in a crowded market that a local trader tries to sell Fossey a gorilla hand wrapped in cloth. Although she fails to learn anything at the market, it inspires her to become active in their conservation and preservation, but for this she earns more enemies than friends. The live, and not so live, animal trade is worth a great deal to the local economy and it seems Dian Fossey is about the only one who is fanatical about stopping it.
When a National Geographic photographer arrives to cover the story of Dian and the gorillas, her protective nature comes to the fore and she refuses Bob Campbell even one photograph. She eventually gives in when he alerts her to the possibility of using National Geographic to highlight the plight of 'her' gorillas. As their working relationship grows, so does their personal one.
As she collects more enemies, and increasingly frustrates the existing ones, they make braver, bolder and more threatening attempts to drive 'the witch with the flaming hair' from the mountain. With her personal life at a crossroads, her work and gorillas under threat from poachers, and her life threatened, she becomes quite fanatical and authoritarian. It is the combination of these factors that brings the whole affair to a conclusion.
Being a 'true' story, one might be forgiven for thinking that Dian Fossey was a slightly bossy, but dedicated and just, employer and researcher. She is certainly portrayed as dedicated to the gorillas and to anyone who loves animals that much must be alright, surely? Well, apparently, no. It seems the real Dian Fossey was nothing short of a dogmatic, authoritarian, gorilla-nazi who had the best of intentions, but few people skills, knew nothing of diplomacy and was unforgiving of those who held different opinions to her own. It is quite something that she was able to work in Rwanda for as long as she did (all foreigners were driven out of the Congo at gunpoint due to the civil war that was raging there), given that she had few government ministers on her side, and even fewer locals.
Aside from this, the romanticising of her relationship with photographer Bob Campbell does add another aspect to the story, but one that is not essential. Sigourney Weaver does a terrific job of portraying Fossey (as she does with all the hard-nosed characters in her resume), mixing the anger, the passion and the tiny glimpse of fragility and vulnerability nicely.
The interaction with the gorillas is possibly the highlight of the film, and watching these giants is quite breathtaking. It is amazing that the film crew managed to catch so much of it for inclusion in the film.
The scenery is quite magnificent, the music is very appropriate, the cinematography is rather good, and the result is an emotional film that balances the views of the conservationists. At the same time it reminds us that poor nations with no other natural resources, will do almost anything for an income.
Being a true story, there may be no surprise at the film's conclusion for some, but few will be left with their emotions unaffected.
Released in 1988, Gorillas in the Mist is not as good as I would have expected, and certainly looks a lot older. The aspect ratio is 1.78:1 and it is 16:9 enhanced. The image is a little soft, and there is no really sharp detail anywhere. Colours are a bit varied, though mostly acceptable. There is some slight colour bleeding at times and some frames seem to be a little discoloured. Reds and dark blues are particularly prone to these problems and stand out against their backgrounds, while blacks, look a little grey at times.
There is also some evidence of grain, and like the occasional, mild, dirt that mars the film, it is most evident in the early chapters, and when there are large pale areas on display such as the sky. There are some white specks that pop up occasionally, but these are few and far between and not distracting. Shadow detail is not the best either.
While this film could have really impressed with a 5.1 mix, it is not offered, and you’ll have to make do with the Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo mix that's here. It is audio of a fair standard, but it certainly won't impress. It doesn't have a great dynamic range, low-level sounds are not particularly deep and while dialogue is audible and clear, it lacks just a little in clarity.
Being a stereo mix, there is no response from anything other than the left and right fronts, but there is not a great deal of separation or panning. There is some use of the sound space made when it comes to trucks passing and the like, but generally, the audio is quite evenly balanced.
Fortunately, the basics such as audio synch are fine, and while it is mastered a little on the quiet side, it shouldn't present any real problems - and if for some reason it does there is a host of subtitles tracks, including English.
The layer change is placed between scenes at 53:28, and while noticeable, is not disruptive.
