The monkey in man

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title The monkey in man
Original title Monkey shines
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1988
length 108 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director George A. Romero
script George A. Romero
production Charles Evans
music David Shire
camera James A. Contner
cut Pasquale Buba
occupation

The monkey in humans (English: Monkey Shines ) is a thriller by the US director George A. Romero from 1988. It is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Stewart . The director wrote the script himself. The film opened in German cinemas on February 23, 1989.

action

While jogging, the student Allan Mann is hit by a truck and seriously injured. From the neck down paralyzed , he can only move from now on in a wheelchair and is dependent on his mother; his girlfriend cannot bear the new situation and leaves him in favor of the doctor treating him.

Allan is bitter and isolates himself from the outside world until his best friend Geoffrey gives him a present: a very intelligent and trained monkey named Ella, bred in the laboratory, should make his everyday life easier. The animal can comb him, for example, bring him books and turn the pages, operate the stereo system and the light switches.

Allan quickly takes the monkey girl in his heart, but he does not know that Geoffrey is treating her with an intelligence-increasing drug, which also expands her consciousness to such an extent that she increasingly establishes telepathic contact with Allan . Seeing through her eyes and feeling her body, Allan can leave the house - in return, however, he grows in aggression that he cannot explain himself. He begins to hate his mother and finally pisses off the animal trainer Melanie, with whom he had fallen in love again.

Ella reacts to Allan's new potential for aggression and kills his mother by throwing a hair dryer into the bathtub. Geoffrey also dies when Ella manages to give him the lethal injection he had intended for her. When Allan realizes that Ella has committed murders, he finally manages to lure Ella and kill her with one bite.

In the final fight, Allan suddenly regains control of one finger - reason for new examinations and a new operation that finally helps Allan back on his feet so that he can walk on crutches again and also lets Melanie back into his life.

Awards

The film won several prizes, including four at the Sitges Festival Internacional de Cinema de Catalunya in 1988 - two of which went to George A. Romero himself. At the Portuguese Festival Fantasporto , George A. Romero received the 1989 Critics' Prize and the International Fantasy Film Award .

criticism

Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times on July 29, 1988 that the two-hour runtime of the film contained an “absolutely fascinating” 90-minute thriller. However, it is too long and contains too many subplots.

“A horror thriller staged with simple means, but very suggestively, which, after a rather cautious beginning, comes up with strong tension effects; solid genre fare with a little bit of a nonsense. "

- Lexicon of international film

Remarks

  • The conclusion differs from the book; there Allan remains paralyzed until the end.
  • The monkeys seen in the film were actually trained to help paralyzed people.
  • Originally filmed scenes showed scenes of violence involving monkeys. Although nothing happened to any of the monkeys, these scenes were cut to forestall conflicts.
  • When it was released, the film was released uncut from the age of 18. In 2012 the film was re-examined for a new edition and downgraded in its uncut version to "16+".

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Review by Roger Ebert
  2. ↑ The monkey in man. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 

Web links