Written by Hadley Passela
Out of the countless documentaries and segments produced on Jane Goodall, “Jane,” directed by documentarian and archivist, Bret Morgen, is unlike any other, and it is a breathtaking experience.
What makes the film so exceptional, is that it is masterfully woven together with the footage captured by Hugo Van Lawick, Goodall’s late husband, who was sent to cover her story. In 2014, National Geographic found the 140 hours of 16 mm film, which had been perfectly preserved in a storage facility for the last 55 years. Morgen referred to it as “the greatest depository of 16 mm film, outside of NASA, that I had ever heard of or encountered.”
What unfurls from the footage and transcends into the film through vibrant National Geographic imagery, is a love story of Goodall’s parallel evolution alongside her subjects, the chimpanzees of Gombe, and her discoveries that proved the human condition abounded within them.
In a poetic narrative by Goodall, we hear the serenity of her childhood dreams realized in her voice, as she details the earliest beginnings of her time spent focused on observing the chimpanzees, “day after day, in the sun and the wind and the rain, I climbed into the hills – this is where I was meant to be.”
It was July 1960 when Goodall began her research in the rugged mountainous country of the Gombe stream game reserve. We see the purest image of a young Goodall at 26 years old, staring into the trees wide-eyed, her piercing eyes as green as the greenery she is surrounded by.
In a pair of black Chuck Taylors, which seem to be a nod to her fearless individuality, and matching safari shirt and shorts, she traipses through the hills of the Gombe reserve trying to get close enough to the chimps to observe their behaviors. She has a wry smile on her face as she watches them, as though she cannot contain her wonder.
Through the exceptional sound production, we hear her every footstep, chirp and sound of the wild around her and become immersed in her story. We are so used to seeing Goodall in images where she is embracing the chimpanzees she has studied for decades, it is fascinating to see her in the earliest stages where she spent over a year alone in the wild observing, and the many patient and stoic hours it took her to surround herself with them. Goodall spoke about remaining vigilant in these times, “I never had any thought of quitting, I should forever have lost all self-respect if I had given up.”
Once she gained the trust of the chimpanzees, she gave them names to identify them; “we became a regular family,” she says. As she remains transfixed on her subjects, it is clear to see from behind the camera how Van Lawick became transfixed on her, and the evolution of their love story begins. They marry and simultaneously Goodall’s research and relationship with the family of chimpanzees evolves.
Each stage of her research with the chimpanzees becomes more captivating than the next, as a majestic orchestral score by renowned composer, Philip Glass, accentuates the compelling visuals. Every stage of humanity is captured through the commonalities of mating, birth, love, emotional unrest, nurturing and a poignant scene of death.
The documentary brings to life every human emotion shared between Goodall and her studies, enforcing the impact her heroic and unwavering patience toward her passion for animals has had on mankind. It is more than a documentary, but a film that will move you to the core of your own human existence.
Jane is now playing in select theaters.
