Project Nim - 3 1/2 smiles

I’m not sure what I expected when I went to see the documentary “Project Nim,” but after watching this heartbreaking story, I can only marvel at the arrogance of man. Director James Marsh, who won the documentary-feature Oscar for 2008’s Man on Wire, takes on this story by presenting interviews of the key players, letting their own words speak for themselves and letting us, his audience, draw our own conclusions. In addition, he also uses video footage and photos to enhance the present-day recollections. If there’s a villain in “Project Nim,” it’s Columbia University psychology professor Herbert Terrace, who, in 1973, wanted to see what would happen if a chimpanzee were raised among people and taught sign language. He comes off as detached and indifferent to the damage he’s done yet you sense that he, along with the others involved, had honorable intentions. But it’s also clear that none of them knew what they were doing.

Terrace had help from various ‘mothers’ – friends, assistants and teachers who took care of Nim and worked with him from his earliest days. They changed his diapers and dressed him in human baby clothes and later, in children’s clothes. Interestingly enough, Nim’s story turns out to be as much about human nature as it is about the capabilities of chimpanzees. Everyone wants to be involved, but for his/her own purposes and none are prepared for Nim’s animal nature. Consequently, for Nim, there are significant adjustments in caregivers, multiple changes in venue and even Terrace’s radical revision about whether chimps can be taught to learn language in a meaningful way. Nim is trapped between species, victim to the whims of his human handlers. Hence, “Project Nim” morphs from something inspiring to a disturbing portrait of arrogance run amok. Greed and glory end up trumping decency and humanity and it’s heartbreaking to watch. Says one of Nim’s signing teachers with tears in her eyes: ‘We did a huge disservice to him and his soul, and shame on us.’ 7/17/11