Director: James Marsh
Year: 2011
Country: US
Language: English
Can a chimpanzee learn Sign language? Better yet, can a chimpanzee be taken out of the wild and learn to live like a human? Project Nim is an interesting documentary about the life of a chimp known as Nim Chimpsky, a play on "Noam Chomsky", as he's raised like a human baby under care the of CFS. Switched from "home" to "home", "parent" to "parent". Nim is a reverse Tarzan and this proves quite difficult for the humans involved in this project.
Made by James Marsh, known for his Oscar winning documentary Man on Wire, Project Nim traces the life of a monkey, born in captivity and ripped from his mother at an early age. A Columbia professor known as Herbert Terrace used him for a world-altering experience that would make monkey-human relationships quite possible.He used his student, Stephanie LaFarge, to be the foster mother. She was more the hippie type, allowing Nim to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Surprisingly, like most humans, Nim thrived in this environment and actually learned a few signs. Terrace is shocked that Nim has been subjected to this "free" lifestyle and is sent to a more strict foster parent. Though he learns more at this new foster parent's place, it seems like he's very restricted and it shows in his less happy mood.
I feel this film holds a strong emphasis on the nature of knowledge and how knowledge can be gained. One foster parent feels that knowledge is gained through experience and relationships, where another feels that knowledge must be gained through strict classes. Although, if you have no motivation to learn, if you are depressed and just going through the motions what are you really going to learn? Happiness and freedom are more important in terms of gaining knowledge than strict routine. More work gets done when there is more freedom given to do the work.
Unfortunately, due to evolution Chimpanzees develop intense anger issues after a certain age and therefore it is extremely unsafe to keep one of them as a pet. Intense anger issues combines with strength 5x that of a human make for one hell of a disaster. Many handlers show the scars from their dangerous encounters with Nim. He signs "sorry" afterwards, but as his handlers speculate, is he really saying sorry? Does Nim really understand the language being presented to him. It would be nice to think that Nim knows what he did was wrong, but maybe it's just routine. He sees someone hurt or angry and he does that sign.
The dramatic re-creations in this film are so good that we are convinced we are seeing actual documentary footage when we're not. Sometimes there are actors substituting for the people that couldn't be there, sometimes there's animatronics, but Marsh always keeps you emotionally involved in the story of Nim Chimpsky. He makes you feel for the chimp the same way you would for any other human being. He also brings awareness to how cruely monkeys in labs are being treated and I'm sure has made an activist out of a few people. Free the monkeys!
In conclusion, Project Nim is a beautiful documentary that will keep you emotionally gripped from start to finish. It contains a strong look on the nature of language and knowledge. A fascinating film that shows you can take the monkey out of the wild but you can't take the wild out of the monkey. 3.5/5
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