Gorillas In The Myth?

Only three years after the murder of Dian Fosey, a film version of her autobiography "Gorillas In The Mist" was released. It starred Sigourney Weaver as Dian and made the most extensive use of actors in monkey costumes since the bone tossing scene in Stanley Kubrick's "2001."

Althought it wasn't an authenticity nightmare like, say, "Pearl Harbor" or "The Patriot," there were a couple of noteworthy errors and omissions in the film. For instance, Fossey's dog Cindy is shown barking on the night Fossey is murdered in her bed by persons unknown. This dog had died three years before. The gorilla that Dian first made physical contact with was not star simian Digit, but another gorilla named Peanuts. Dian is also shown running from a gorilla in the movie - something she would have definitely known not to do. A gorilla is fitter, faster, and many times more agile than you so good luck in the foot-race!

There's some talk that the eccentricities of Dian Fossey have been white-washed in the film, including her serial affairs with married men ( the rumour mill even includes her mentor Louis Leakey in these liasons! ) Paradoxically, she is also sometimes presented in a worser light than reality can justify, as when she is shown threatening to hang a poacher that her anti-poaching patrols have caught, an incident that never occurred.

Of course, all this is exceedingly nit-picky, and "Gorillas In The Mist" is indeed a fine piece of cinema! Sigourney Weaver not only received an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of Dian, she was so inspired by Ms. Fossey's work that she now serves as honourary chairperson of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

The population of mountain gorillas in Virunga is now around 380. They've made a slight comeback but lots of work remains if they are to survive and thrive as a species.