Gorillas in the Mist (1988)

The story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.

Director:

Michael Apted

Writers:

Harold T.P. Hayes (article), Dian Fossey (work)

Stars:

Sigourney Weaver, Bryan Brown, Julie Harris

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sigourney Weaver	...	Dian Fossey
Bryan Brown	...	Bob Campbell
Julie Harris	...	Roz Carr
John Omirah Miluwi	...	Sembagare
Iain Cuthbertson	...	Dr. Louis Leakey
Constantin Alexandrov	...	Claude Van Veeten
Waigwa Wachira	...	Mukara
Iain Glen	...	Brendan
David Lansbury	...	Larry
Maggie O'Neill	...	Kim
Konga Mbandu	...	Rushemba
Michael J. Reynolds	...	Howard Dowd
Gordon Masten	...	Photographer
Peter Nduati	...	Batwa chief
Helen Fraser	...	Mme. Van Vecten

Storyline

Sigourney Weaver stars as Dian Fossey, in this true story about Fossey's study of gorillas, and her efforts to stop the decimation of the endangered apes.

---

Plot Keywords:

gorilla | africa | based on true story | mountain | nature | 

---

Taglines:

In a land of beauty, wonder and danger, she would follow a dream, fall in love and risk her life to save the mountain gorillas from extinction.

---

Genres:

Biography | Drama

---

Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sembagare (John Omirah Miluwi) is based on Rosamund Carr's former house boy Sembagare Munyamboneza who set up the Imbabazi orphanage with her in 1994 after the Rwandan Genocide.

---

Goofs

In the scenes where Dian drives from the town to the mountains in a land rover, the vehicle used is Series III Land Rover, which first went into production in 1972, in 1966 the Series II was the production Land Rover, and sported a wire grill, and inset headlights, as opposed to the III's plastic grill, and lights in wings, as in the film.

---

Quotes

Rushemba: Mukara was here this afternoon. He is very angry with you. He says you are telling people there's typhoid on the mountain. The government needs money from the tourists. They get very mad if you scare these people away. Mukara also said last week you shot a tourist in the meadow.
Dian Fossey: Now, that is not true. I shot way over their heads.
Dian Fossey: They are not going to turn this mountain... into a goddamn zoo!

---

Connections

Referenced in What's Up Doc?: Episode #2.4 (1993)

---

Soundtracks

Sugar
Written by Maceo Pinkard & Sidney D. Mitchell & Edna Alexander
Performed by Peggy Lee
Courtesy of MCA Records

User Reviews

Inspiring, moving, provoking and educational.

Based on Dian Fossey's own autobiography, this true life story is inspiring and has helped these amazing animals in many ways by waking us up to their plight. Originally Dian herself was helping to make the film, until she was murdered and the production team had to go back and start it all over again several years later in 1988.

I am aware she did complete a degree when she returned to the USA in 1980 and wrote her book, which was published in 1983, and then revised in 1985. She returned to Africa in to help the gorillas and was murdered in 1984/1985 I believe near Christmas.

She may have done things that weren't ethical according to some, though her plight to save the gorilla came first.

This movie does give a fairly accurate but slightly toned down version of the events, which took place, though there were a few changes in details. It would be impossible to fit 13 years of events into just over one and a half hours of footage. So I think Hollywood did a good job.

The main alterations, leaving out some of the details of horrific animal abuse that would have otherwise pushed the rating up to an R16 and probably left any animal lover in tears. The details they left out as well may have made the film a little to shocking for the chief censors.

The special effects makeup, I believe done by Rick Baker, and real gorilla footage is seamless, making it hard to tell which parts were real gorillas and which are very well created costumes.

After purchasing the DVD I now realize they had Dian Fossey's original tracker with them to help with the film.

All up I think this film gives us just enough drama, action and thrills to make it a hit. I think Sigorney Weaver should have won an academy award for this especially considering how brave she was to film on location with real gorilla right next to her.

This movie has inspired myself to change my career path and am also reading the book, which I would recommend for anyone who wants to see how much more horrific the events were in reality.

This movie is a must see, who knows it may even change your life.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gorillas in the Mist

Filming Locations:

Zaire

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$366,925, 25 September 1988

Gross USA:

$24,720,479

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$61,149,479

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., The Guber-Peters Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1