Film Reviews

Project Nim

• Rating:
• Director: James Marsh
• Starring:
• Details: US/93mins 12A

A fascinating look at some very stupid 'smart people' in the 70s who decided to try and raise a monkey as a child in order to teach it sign language, it's initially a captivating watch. But as interesting as Project Nim is, it's difficult to know what to feel about any of the people being interviewed; some of them are almost clinically thick, and the monkey, frankly, is a bit of an asshole. Or just a monkey - I've never met one in fairness.
Mostly executed using talking heads coupled with reconstructed "flashbacks" to (over) emphasize various scenarios, director Marsh chronicles Nim's eventful life from the moment he was born. Placed with a hippie family and raised for the first few years of his life as a child, he was then moved to a proper facility, where he was thought more extensive sign language by experienced teachers. Although Nim was an adorable and often endearing creature, he was still a wild animal - which his teachers found out to their detriment more than once.
With Rise of the Planet of the Apes due to open soon, the cinematic focus right now is on chimps. Nim in particular was a bit of celebrity in the early 70s, as he was claimed to be a primate who could, essentially, communicate. Arguments for and against this are presented throughout with no clear conclusion. The one thing you do come to understand is that the catalyst for Project Nim, an egotistical professor who few interviewees speak well of, made a monumental error and was never sure of himself in the first place. He's here to defend himself, which he doesn't do very well.
Nim didn't go to space, he doesn't know martial arts; the breakthrough the professors and teachers were looking for was proof communication was possible. Did an animal just do what he needed to do to get what he wanted, when he wanted it - a banana, human contact etc? Some swear they almost had full conversations with him, while others are certain that such a thing is impossible.
Worth checking out, but frustrating at points.

Review by Mike Sheridan