Jane

"Jane" is a pretty good doco; indeed, among the best I have seen. Unlike many nowadays, including some other National Geographic product, it maintains a high standard in all respects. This includes its overall construction, the near-impeccable score, the absence of hysterical and breathless dialogue and commentary, and most of all, the editing and fine mixing of archival and new moving and still imagery. The story, of course, stands on its own two feet.

So I have no quibbles. Any complaints about some fuzzy pictures ignore such realities as the quality of films made in difficult circumstances with the equipment of the day decades ago, even by professionals, and the few home movie clips which this production employs judiciously. Critics of fairly frequent footage of Goodall carrying and using binoculars, and staring into the jungled distance are a humorous reminder of my eight visits to Africa. I found many tourists (especially but not exclusively American) with such a low attention span that they complain if they don't see an amazing critter around every bush and have no patience for searching. I don't mind "Jane" reminding us that binoculars are among the most used and more important tools of wildlife watchers and photographers. Goodall's need for binoculars sits side by side with her discovery that chimpanzees, just like humans, make and use tools.

"Jane" (2017 release; 90 min.) is a documentary about the life and times of Jane Goodall. As the movie opens, we are reminded that in 2014 hundreds of hours of 1960s film footage was unearthed at the National Geographic archives relating to Jane Goodall. From there we go back in time, and we get to know Jane, then 26, as she is chosen by Dr. Leakey to observe and mingle with the wild chimps in Gombe, Tanzania, even though she has no training or science degree (yet). It was important to Dr. Leakey that someone with an open mind without preconceptions would do the observing. Jane can't believe her good fortune as this is a dream come true for her. She throws herself into her work. At this point we are less than 10 min. into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from documentary maker Brett Morgen, who previously brought us the excellent "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck", Chicago 10" and "The Kid Stay in the Picture", among others. Here he sifts through mountains of rarely or never seen footage shot over half a century ago, showing us how a 26 year old single white woman decides to do whatever it takes to integrate herself into a community of wild chimps. Along the way we also learn a thing or two about Jane's personal life.But the primary reason to watch this is the 1960s footage of the bush and what life was like back then. There are some extraordinary scenes, and some frightening ones as well. But it always kept my attention. last, but certainly not least, Morgen was able to convince the legendary Philip Glass to write a brand new score for this movie, and that score is classic Glass, just gorgeous (available here on Amazon on CD and as a download). You can bet I will check that out shortly.

"Jane" opened to positive acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival last Fall. I was quite surprised that it didn't score a Best Documentary Oscar nomination, but that doesn't diminish the movie's quality or its appeal. This recently opened for a one week run at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The screening where I caught it at (on the very last day of that one week run) was attended quite nicely actually (probably other people who, like me, wanted to catch it before the end of its run). If you like nature/animal documentaries, or are simply curious to learn more about the life of this extraordinary lady, you cannot go wrong with this. "Jane" is a WINNER.

'JANE': Four Stars (Out of Five)

A documentary biopic about the life and work of Jane Goodall. Goodall is a world famous primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, vegetarian and animal rights activist, who challenged the male dominated science of her time, to revolutionize the world's understanding of humans relations to non-human animals, and nature, through her groundbreaking chimpanzee research. The film was written and directed by Brett Morgen, and it's received nearly unanimous positive reviews from critics, as well as some prestigious awards recognition too. Being a huge animal lover, the film was really interesting and inspiring to me.

The film takes place primarily in the 60s, when Goodall traveled to Gombe Stream National Park, in Tanzania, to study chimpanzees in the wild, and their social interactions with each other. Her findings revolutionized the way we view chimpanzees, other primates, and animals in general. They also challenged the male dominated studies on the subject of that time too. The story is told through old footage, that just became public, and through interviews with Goodall now herself.

Being an animal lover, and vegan, it is incredibly inspiring to see how positive Goodall was in the animal rights movement. She also (obviously) helped advance women's efforts and work in science. So the film is definitely inspiring in those ways too, and it's also just really interesting to watch. The footage of chimpanzees in the wild is always fascinating to view as well. It's a little slow-paced at times, when the primates aren't onscreen, but it's mostly a very interesting and educational documentary.

One of the best documentaries. Flows and moves like an actual movie, with a narrative that moves so effortlessly with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Brett Morgen should really be applauded for giving this such a rich pathos and a clear thematic focus; it feels so cinematic, and has a real sense of progression.

To see such parallels between Goodall's duties as both a wife and mother when compared to her animal subjects is so endearing, especially knowing that this is real footage being used; in that light, this is one of the year's best edited films.

Now don't expect this documentary to give you a solution on the question that might haunt some of us. Are we related to apes? Now there are other places to find answers to that. If they comforting or even final is another story. This story right here, concerns a woman who lives with and amongst apes.

The structure is really good and the movie builds up. Now this is something that really happened and the footage shows us a lot of things. For some it may feel a bit boring, but it's the small things that really elevate this. Be it how step by step she comes closer to the monkeys (no pun intended). Interviews and other things, and of course life itself intervene or at least throw obstacles in her way. Really interesting and intriguing at the same time