James Marsh‘s documentary Project Nim, which chronicles the life of experimental chimp Nim Chimsky (like Noam Chomsky, eh eh?), poses an interesting hypothesis without ever coming to any kind of intriguing conclusion, much like the experiment the film is about. In 1973, a chimpanzee is born into the care of a scientist named Lemmon. His mother is quickly tranquilized and the chimp is taken away. In steps Herbert S. Terrace, a Columbia professor determined to prove that a primate, brought in the exact same way as a human child, can be taught sign language enough to form a complete sentence on its own.
And so begins a near 30-year journey of scientific, and moral, peaks and valleys. At first, Terrace is a pioneer, hiring graduate students to explore the edges of animal language. Nim’s taken into a home of hippies, the mother of whom he once had a sexual relationship with. Unfortunately, the household refuses to record stats or log journals regarding to the sign language meant to be taught to the chimp. Soon there’s a new grad student named Laura, who Terrace starts having sex with as well. In his interview with Marsh, he recalls his sexual escapades with these students as something that might have happened but he doesn’t remember fully. For a scientist, he’s alarmingly lacking in facts.
Soon the humans become the most interesting part of the documentary. As Nim grows more human, Terrace seems to devolve in front of our very eyes. How can a human being lack any visible trait of emotional resonance? It’s truly something to watch. He removes Nim from the hippie house and into a classroom with Laura. The results don’t improve, as Nim turns to violence. Before long it’s all gone wrong, and the experiment is back to one.
Marsh’s archive footage is surprisingly thin, as he returns to shots more than once and holds other shots for much longer than they have any business being held on screen. It all feels stretched out, sporting more Ken Burns still-zooms than even Burns could muster in one go-around.
Can chimps learn to be human? The answer is clearly no early on. ‘Well how human?’ becomes the next question, and sadly it’s not as engaging as it needs to be. We meet cool characters, like Bob, the man who ultimately connects with Nim the most, but are mostly left to laugh at the expectations of academics whose reach far exceed their grasp.
What do you think of James Marsh? Chimps?