My review was written in May 1988 after watching the feature on National Geographic video cassette.
"People of the Forest" is a deceptively simple, quite moving documentary relating the everyday life of a group of chimpanzees living in Africa, their forest habitat threatened by man's encroachment.
Aimed at theatrical release by National Geographic Society, feature should play well in specialized situations and have a long life in ancillary and educational markets.
Filmmaker Hugo Van Lawick photographed the chimps over a 20-year period in their natural, protected locale in Tanzania. The feature telescopes the footage effectively into a disarmingly natural, almost cinema verite look at their lifestyle given a fictional, dramatic and anthropomorphic structure via effective narration written by Nancy LeBrun (NOTE: this is the 1988 version, featuring Helen Mirren as voice-over narrator).
The story that unfolds in mainly flashback is that of Fifi, a chimp observed from age five through 25. She becomes attached to her infant brother Flint and eventually inherits the mothering role for her clan following the death of her mom, the matriarch Flo. Common, everyday occurrences and behavior are contrasted with extreme traumas (e.g., the death of Flo, fights among the chimps and the effects of a polio epidemic which kills several chimps including a newborn infant as well as paralyzing Fifi''s brother Faben).
With Helen Mirren reading the narration in quite touching fashion, the film easily builds to the mood of a fable, resembling the mythic narratives of the late novelist George R. Stewart, particularly his sci-fi novel "Earth Abides". The kinship of these primates to man is unmistakable and their collective fate, as the final freeze-frame suggests the horror of their forest being cut down by man, is provocative. Jenny Muskett's spare, dreamy musical score is most effective.
Chimps tha Van Lewick filmed were those studied by Jane Goodall in her groundbreaking work and the intimacy and naturalness achieved is a remarkable achievement.
