JANE’S JOURNEY – SLIFF Review

Few people living today have my respect as highly as Jane Goodall. If you want an exemplary case of one person who has devoted her life selflessly to a cause greater than herself, she would rank highly on that list. For this reason alone, I was ecstatic to find out someone had made a film about her life.

JANE’S JOURNEY is a 2010 documentary written and directed by Lorenz Knauer, a film that chronicles Jane Goodall’s life from her roots as a little girl in the UK to her ongoing campaigns of present day. From a strictly biographical, informative perspective, this is a valuable and enjoyable film.

You may sense, however, the eminent presence of a “but” looming in the near future. If so, you would be correct. JANE’S JOURNEY offers a wonderful encyclopedic reference of the fascinating woman, tracing her many accomplishments and contributions. Even more fascinating is that Goodall did this all out of passion. She had no degree or specialized training when she first ventured to Africa in the early ‘60s as a very young woman. That alone took some bravery.

On the other hand, JANE’S JOURNEY feels a bit long and drawn out. Even at merely 111 minutes, the film feels as though its stretching the topic, when no stretching is truly needed. There are definitely areas of the film that could have been tightened up, and while the celebrity interviews theoretically offer added credibility to Goodall’s reputation, they really were not necessary, offering little more than fluff.

JANE’S JOURNEY is an exquisitely photographed film, capturing the beauty of the wild and foreign land she came to know as her home, as well as many moments of her with the chimpanzees she came to consider family. However, the structure and pacing of the film cause it to feel like a television special on the Biography or History Channels.

While Jane Goodall began her unique career in conservation focused on the endangered chimpanzees, JANE’S JOURNEY does venture into her work as a humanitarian as well. This only makes sense, when we consider that our lives and the lives of the species we endanger, as well as the environment we destroy – the same environment that wildlife calls home – are all clearly interconnected.

As a timeline of Jane Goodall’s life, the film succeeds triumphantly, but as a moving, emotional cinematic experience, JANE’S JOURNEY falls short. With such a captivating subject, and with all that’s happening in our world today, the film could potentially reach the hearts and minds of so many unemployed, underprivileged and unaware citizens, if only the film had a bit more heart and identity of its own.

Regardless, JANE’S JOURNEY is a wonderfully thoughtful documentation of one of the greatest women alive today and deserves to be seen by everyone possible. Her ideas and her concerns affect us all, whether we want to believe and accept it or not.

Showtimes
Monday, November 14th at 7:00pm – Plaza Frontenac Cinema