Gorillas in the Mist (1988) on Netflix
Dian Fossey, an occupational therapist, convinces anthropologist Louis Leakey to send her to Africa to study the mountain gorillas. Tracker Sembagare helps her settle in the jungle to find them.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb7.1/1031,607 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes84%
Trailer
Plot summary
Occupational therapist Dian Fossey writes to anthropologist Louis Leakey for a job cataloging mountain gorillas in Africa, and after meeting him at a lecture in Louisville in 1966 she persuades him of her conviction. Leakey's foundation equips her for the Congo, where she meets the tracker Sembagare, and the two locate a troop of gorillas deep in the jungle. Congolese soldiers evict her from the site during the Congo Crisis, accusing her of spying, and she is ready to go home until Sembagare and her host Rosamond Carr urge her to stay. She starts again in Rwanda, at Karisoke, and finds traps near her base, evidence that poaching is rampant. Her account of gorilla communication and social groups impresses Leakey and draws international attention.
Cast
- Waigwa Wachiraas Mukara
- Konga Mbanduas Rushemba
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Gorillas in the Mist (1988)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Live footage of real gorillas was seamlessly blended with gorilla costumes built by Rick Baker; reviewing the film, Roger Ebert wrote that "everything looked equally real to me", praising how director Michael Apted developed the relationships between woman and beast.
- The film opened modestly with $366,925, then jumped to number one at the box office the following weekend once it expanded to 558 screens, grossing $3.45 million.
- Sigourney Weaver won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama for playing Dian Fossey, and composer Maurice Jarre won for Best Original Score, at a ceremony where the film also contended for Best Motion Picture - Drama.
- The screenplay drew not just on Dian Fossey's own book but also on magazine journalism about her, including articles by Harold T. P. Hayes and Alex Shoumatoff for Vanity Fair.
SPOILER
The film closes with an epilogue text explaining that Dian Fossey's actions helped save the gorillas from extinction, while her own death remains a mystery.
