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If you’re
a regular viewer of The Discovery Channel
or Animal Planet, there is a better than
average chance that you have heard of Koko.
If you have, most likely you are as impressed
with her abilities and what their possibilities
might one day mean towards our better understanding
of and appreciating towards animals.
There is also a little bit about her that
makes one wonder if we humans (one of the
lower of Earth's orders in my opinion) might
possibly be somehow related to apes and
gorillas.
To give you a bit of background if you are
new to the fold, Koko was young gorilla
brought to Stanford University some 30 odd
years ago to take part in a very unusual
experiment.
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She was put under the care of Dr. Penny Patterson,
whose goal was to teach Koko sign language. The
hope was that if Koko could learn, it would unlock
a door of communication that had never before
been opened.
The original project was filmed and edited into
a documentary by director Barbet Schroeder (who
is best known for mainstream thrillers like "Single
White Female"), and in the course of 80 minutes
introduces us to the experiment and its initial
outcome. To intelligent viewers, the seemingly
limitless ability for Koko to learn comes across
as far more than any kind of circus act. Over
time, it becomes evident that she is not merely
mimicking her teacher, but showing a rudimentary
understanding of the 'words' she is using. If
there is any shortcoming to "Koko: A Talking
Gorilla", it is in that it was made so many
years ago it doesn't show how far she has come
since.
That's where channels like the ones I mentioned
before come in handy. If you check the schedules,
you'll probably find a handful of specials focusing
on her progress, and again they are incredible.
As a matter of fact, if you haven’t already
heard of Koko I find that to be a sad statement
of how overlooked this project has been by the
public at large. If you really want to get a little
education into animal behavior, and perhaps get
a bit of a glimpse into how little we truly understand
about the animals around us I suggest picking
up a copy of this film to get you started.
Criterion has, as usual, done an outstanding job
with their restoration. It's not without its sots
and specks, but considering how much raw footage
was used to make the documentary, it looks great.
At times the sound rises and lowers, but again
that is the nature of this type of footage. What
I was a bit surprised about with this release
is the lack of special features. There is a lone
interview with Schroeder and a small booklet insert,
but that is all you will find. Both are worthwhile,
but I'm used to Criterion packing out their releases
with special features and hoped for a little more
in the way of in-depth interviews.
Aside from that small nitpick, "Koko: A Talking
Gorilla" is a great DVD release, and one
I highly recommend for the more educated of you
reading this review.
Directed by: Barbet Schroeder
Extras: Interview with Barbet Schroeder
Specifications:
Studio: Criterion
Release Date: 7/11/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website
:We'll give Koko: A Talking Gorilla an A.
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