Highly Overrated But Still Good

good back-story, and good acting

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Gorillas are wonderful creatures, highly intelligence and one of man's closest relations. They have also been endangered for years, suffering from the threats of poachers, deforestation and civil war. Gorillas in the Mist tells the story of Dian Fossey who made it her lives work to protect gorillas in Rwanda.Dian Fossey (Sigourney Weaver) was an Occupational Theparist from America when after attending a talk volunteers to study gorillas in Africa. She works for National Geographic and she attempts to study the apes and count their numbers. In Rwanda she ends up becoming very close to one group of gorillas and her research becomes very important to the scientific community. She becomes a celebrity in the wider world and brings publicity to the plight of the apes. She ends up becoming very close an Australian photographer Bob Campbell (Bryan Brown), who films and photographers the gorillas. Dian sets out to protect the gorillas from the massive threat of poachers who kill gorillas both for zoos to have babies, and for traditional African customs. She slowly becomes close off to the world and too attached to the gorillas.Sigourney Weaver offers a very good performance, earning herself a Golden Globel. She is very believable in the role. Other actors were very competent. The director Michael Apted is a decent director, often dealing with character dramas: he also directed in my option the best Pierce Bronsan Bond. He slowly builds up the film and shows what drives Dian. The film does raise a number of issues. The obvious is about the gorillas and conservation. Dian's work was really important for conservation world. But there are other issues involving corrupt government officials in Africa and how could the gorillas benefit the government, poverty and traditional beliefs in Africa and the extent to what poachers would do. If you are an animal lover or an environment you properly know what the world faces.There are problems with the film. The first 2/3rds of the film are a bit too slow and not that much happens. The third act is best when Dian starts to lose her marbles. That was the most interesting part where she becomes to devoted that she becomes blind to everything else. The Second act is okay, but the first was rather dull. The score was cheesy and very 80s. Also the cinematography could have be a lot better, especially with the African landscapes available.Its a 3 out of 5 star film.

Dian Fossey was definitely a strange person, that much is certain. "Gorrillas in the Mist" aptly conveys that, though it could have been more.The only real problem is the lack of depth. The pacing is great, especially given the long history it's telling. Even though it is a little long as it is, I think that more insight could have been useful, especially when it comes to Dian's relationship with the gorilla Digit. As someone who previously knew some background on Dian, I can't say for certain how the average person would have seen the relationship between Dian and Digit (it was nothing weird at all, if that causes worry), but the short time devoted to the connection between the two probably wouldn't have given it justice, especially when compared to the other parts of Dian's life. I think another person with no prior knowledge of Dian or Digit would have thought her as weird as everyone else who knew her. Maybe that's what director Michael Apted wanted, though I highly doubt it given his attention to Dian's aggressive conservation methods.Finally, the ending is rather peculiar. It makes Dian look like a heroine, which in a way she was, as much of her research did help save the mountain gorillas from extinction. It has the adorable images of gorillas in their natural setting set to heroic memoriam music, the kind that one uses after telling the story of a fallen hero. However, this isn't such a clear cut issue. I realize that recognizing her as that is in the eye of the beholder, but even so, some of her methods were quite cruel, and especially towards the end, she wasn't a likable person at all. Additionally, it leaves a lot of the science part out (though given the target audience, this decision was probably made with good intentions). However, her methods of research were controversial, as most scientists believe that human interference should be avoided at all costs. But Dian took a radically different approach. She studied them in order to get close to them, which gave her a different perspective on their behavior.That being said, there are many parts of this film that do work. Sigourney Weaver is terrific as Dian Fossey, encompassing her soft side and her love of the gorillas, as well as her portrayal of Dian's dark side, with her explosive and near psychotic temperament. But she can't hold this movie alone. The script (especially the character) don't allow for a great deal of sympathy for Dian. In the end, I was left thinking she was a nutcase who did a lot of good things, as well as bad things. Also, she was very successful at conveying Dian's struggle with the atmosphere due to health problems, though the movie doesn't explain why.The supporting cast is great. Bryan Brown is the likable Aussie photographer who makes his relationship with Dian very believable--he loves her, even though he thinks she's a little off her rocker. John Omirah Miluwi is terrific as her sympathetic tracker. He likes her enough that he'll support her through everything, and effectively portrays the character who brings her back to reality when she needs it (which is quite often) without seeming cliché or irritating. Sometimes he seems like a father figure who is happy when his daughter is happy. He's the only person who really seems to understand Dian, which makes it easier to connect with Dian. In a sense, he's the much-needed link between Dian and the audience, so it's good that he shares the screen with Weaver almost 50/50.The production is brilliant as well. Apted makes the scenery beautiful, but he doesn't portray is as exotic as some fantasy safari, which it wasn't. He plays it straight, which is as it should be. This was about all parts of Dian, and just Dian alone. Therefore any weird and inventive camera or other kinds of tricks were not needed and thankfully were not used. The gorillas were the part that worked flawlessly. It was impossible to tell which were real or which were fake without considering that some of the close-ups had to be people in gorilla suits. Still, they moved and acted flawlessly.Even with it's faults, "Gorillas in the Mist" is a great film, with an interesting character study of a woman who is no doubt one of the most influential figures in ape research and conservation.

It is a shame how a movie treatment can be made of a world-renowned character, like Ms Fossey, that bears very little relationship to the person she was, as portrayed both by her own book and the books written about her.Her character remains unknown in this movie. And I've watched it for a second time now, to see if the first frustration with which I viewed it, when it was first released, had left me. No, it hadn't. It starts off poorly, with a fictionalized account of how Fossey met Louis Leakey, the famed anthropologist and how she begs him for a job. Simply not true. Fossey had already been to Africa at the time she met Leakey and he was the one who asked her to go there and work with the endangered gorillas, then numbering well under a 100. I don't even see the benefit of making this autobiographical change to the story. Fossey's motivation for going on this hazardous mission, leaving a fiancé in the U.S. is never explored. Was she is in love, as some speculate, with Leakey? Her love and interest in the gorillas is never in doubt and in real-life her obsession consumed her such that her eccentricity became sociopathic to the degree that her distrust of humans encompassed anyone who crossed her path from her students to the government of Rwanda.Her relationship with the National Geographic photographer is unfortunately Hollywoodized here and does not reach the intellectual level of harmony that they had in real life, they knew from the beginning , because of their individual interests and pursuits, that it was doomed to short-term, but celebrated the "in the moment" aspect of it. This could have been portrayed on screen a lot better.The shift to sociopathic personality, about halfway through the movie is too sudden to ring true and the ending feels rushed and "let's get it over with already". Her murder was appalling and undeserved but she had made many enemies, not the least of whom were her students from whom she demanded servility and unquestioning obedience.Sadly, I think she was ill-served in this bio-pic, perhaps a deeper psychological exploration of her character will be made at some point.However, the gorilla filming was breathtaking.6 out of 10.

this movie is based on the life of Dian Fossey and her work with the gorillas in a remote part of Africa."based on" usually means that some of the content is true and parts of it are fictionalized for dramatic effect.for sure Dian Fossey did work with gorillas in Africa and was instrumental in the increase of their population.some of the details may have been altered,but the gist of the story is true.i thought it was a very entertaining,touching and heartbreaking story.i think Sigourney weaver did a great job as Dian Fossey.she really brought some passion to the character.the movie was also thought provoking and i actually became angry more than a few times about some of the incidents that occurred.i find it rare to become so actively involved with a movie nowadays.for me "Gorillas in the Mist" is at a strong 8/10