Gorillas in the wild, even decades after this documentary was filmed, are in constant danger from mankind who destroys both their natural habitat and the creatures as well. The only place where a gorilla is truly safe now is not in the jungle but in captivity, and such an animal is Koko, six years old at time of filming, who was bought from San Francisco zoo to Stanford University for a very special reason: Koko can talk. Obviously, she doesn't carry on a vocal conversation in English, but instead has been taught American sign language for the deaf by her carer and protector, Dr Penny Patterson.
Director Barbet Schroeder and cinematographer Nestor Almendros didn't take a novel approach to filming Koko. Mostly they presented footage of the gorilla communicating and playing, letting us marvel at this beast which can "talk" with humans, bridging the gap between the species. There are a handful of interviewees fitted in to give their opinions on this phenomenon, but Koko isn't one of them, as the person she communicates with in the main is Patterson, who comes across as something of an obsessive when it concerns her charge - Koko is obviously treated as if she were her child and it's this view that the director takes throughout (if he ever had much choice).
Koko is filmed going about her daily business, which is basically her lessons, which we learn she can only concentrate on for a few hours before she gets bored or too tired. The sign language is undoubtedly useful in working out what Koko is thinking, and we are told she can even mix up the signs to create new words, and also lie when it suits her (i.e. when she's done something bad, like breaking something). She also has a concept of time, working with such ideas as "yesterday", proving that gorillas are indeed intelligent animals when taught.
However, it's whether they should be taught that is the uncomfortable question raised here. Although Schroeder doesn't push the point, we are left wondering what the difference is between Koko and a performing animal in the circus, and it is revealed that Patterson "stole" Koko from the zoo so she could continue her experiments rather than have the ape returned to live with other gorillas in the zoo - later she bought Koko for her foundation. Seeing Koko interact is at once fascinating and alarming; the way she plays with fellow signing ape Michael, who is younger and still learning, suggests that she could casually throw Patterson over one shoulder if she so desired, but at other times she is gentle and endearingly innocent. Occasionally she will give a long-suffering glance to camera - or is that more anthropomorphism? Schroeder doesn't answer the animal rights dilemmas posed, and the charm of Koko doesn't quite eclipse the worry that she is one step up from an overgrown pet parrot.
