Movie Review of Jane's Journey - 2010

Dr. Jane Goodall is world famous for her ongoing research about the chimpanzees of Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, and for her ongoing nonprofit Roots and Shoots programs that bring education and eco friendly enterprise to people in need around the world. She is a diminutive woman whose accomplishments are larger than life. In Jane's Journey, German filmmaker Lorenz Knauer chronicles Dr. Goodall's personal evolution to become the iconic activist environmentalist she is today, and follows her on her tireless travels to help poor people by bringing hope and practical solutions into their lives.

Using archival footage and family photos from her childhood and teen years in England and her first forays into the forests of Gombe Stream National Park, Knauer establishes Jane's joyful, playful personality.

Her love of animals began early, when her father gave her a toy stuffed monkey named Jubilee. She still carries Jubilee with her today; the toy has been held by Angelina Jolie and Kofe Annan, and touched by the countless children whose lives have been touched by Dr. Goodall.

There is footage of a young Jane with the chimpanzees and of the more mature Dr. Goodall again sitting among them. Her relationship with the chimpanzees then and now is awesome. In on camera interviews, she speaks about their personalities, and about how she eventually transformed her early observations and notes into the formal scientific studies for which she is so highly acclaimed, and then spread her knowledge through writing books, and to transform her love of chimpanzees and her commitment to protect them and their habitat into a broader concern for the future of all living creatures, including the human species, and the health of the planet we inhabit.

Other on camera interviews with Angelina Jolie, Pierce Brosnan, Dr. Goodall's sister Judy Waters, her son Hugo (affectionately called 'Grub') and others round out the profile.

Dr. Goodall is truly a force of nature. And, while she says and we see that she's been successful because she's a particularly patient person, we see that her call for each of us to make a difference is an urgent one.

This film is a beautiful tribute to Dr. Goodall's accomplishments, a celebration of her spirit and an inspiration for all of us to follow her example and make the world a better place for all.

If You Like This Film, You May Also Like:

• The Cove
• Arctic Tale
• Winged Migration
• Earth Days
• A Small Act

Film Details:

• Title: Jane's Journey - 2010
• Director: Lorenz Knauer
• Release Date (Germany): September 2, 2010
• Running Time: 107 mins.
• Parental Advisory: Content advisory for parents
• Locations: Tanzania, England, Greenland and other locations around the world
• Language: English
• Production Country: Germany
• Production Company: Diamond Docs
• Distribution Company: Animal Planet