©Les Films du Losange – 1978
La nature au galop / L’animal en miroir 2
Koko, le gorille qui parle
1978 / France / 85min / Color / Blu-ray
Director / Writer : Barbet Schroeder
Cast: Koko, Penny Patterson, Saul Kitchener, Carl Pribram, Roger Fouts
Cinematography: Néstor Almendros
Editing: Denise de Casabianca, Dominique Auvray
Music: Guta Cattoni, Maris Embiricos
What if animals could talk?
In this huge campus with so many students, Stanford University psychology major Penny Patterson is attempting a unique experience that no one else can. She is teaching the world’s first talking gorilla.
Koko, a female Lowland gorilla, first met Penny when she was three months old and began learning American Sign Language (ASL). Now, at the age of seven, Koko can sign 350 words and can understand more than 500. Koko can sign for things she wants and can express most of her feelings through ASL.
The conversations between Koko and Penny are adorable and sometimes emotional. Koko’s simple and universally understood words make us think about intellect and pose the philosophical question of what is a human being. The film was shown at Cannes Film Festival, 1978.