PROJECT NIM (James Marsh, U.S./UK). 93 minutes. Rating: NNNNN
James Marsh, director of the Oscar-winning Man On Wire, delivers another stranger-than-fiction tale of New York in the 1970s. Project Nim charts the odyssey of Nim Chimpsky, a chimpanzee raised among humans (and taught sign language) as part of a Columbia linguistics experiment.
It’s a project undermined at almost every turn by stunning arrogance and incompetence. By the time it’s over, you won’t be able to stand the sight of Herbert Terrace, who seems to have started the project so he could sleep with a series of comely assistants, and you’ll be astonished at the twists and turns Nim’s story takes after he leaves Terrace’s care.
One of the year’s best documentaries.
