Koko: A Talking Gorilla (1978)

Koko: A Talking Gorilla (Koko, le gorille qui parle)
Directed by Barbet Schroeder
1978/France
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel

It’s a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don’t quit when you’re tired – you quit when the gorilla is tired. — Robert Strauss

A fascinating documentary about a gorilla who learned to use sign language, and more broadly, man’s relationship to animals.

Koko was born at the San Francisco Zoo and lived there until she was one year old.  She became ill and was then cared for by Stanford University researcher Penny Patterson who undertook to teach her American Sign Language.

She eventually learned over 1,000 signs and understood more than 2,000 words of spoken English.  She put together primitive sentences and created new words by combining signs she already knew.  She lived to be 48 years old and was quite the celebrity.

The subject matter is interesting on it’s own is even more interesting for the questions it raises.  What are the ethics of removing an animal from its own kind?  What are the ethics of training an animal to be “human”?  How much of the communication arose from Patterson’s subjective interpretation?  Recommended.