Silverback Films
Netflix
One of humanity’s closest relatives, orangutans have provided some of the most memorable moments of David Attenborough’s latter filmography. Who can forget the older female with her construction skills in ? Or the sobering footage in of one orangutan clinging on to the last remaining tree in an area gutted by deforestation?
Now, for the first time in his TV career, Attenborough has dedicated a whole documentary to these endangered animals. It is directed by Huw Cordey, who first worked with Attenborough on . Secret Lives of Orangutans was filmed in the western Indonesian island of Sumatra within its Leuser Ecosystem, an area of forest located in Aceh and North Sumatra. The island is home to about , a figure predicted to decline by a . But in this film, the focus is on one small family – some of whom featured in the series , also with Attenborough.
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There is Friska, the 60-something matriarch who could win Olympic gold for sucking termites out of sticks, her daughter Ellie and, most notably, her granddaughter Eden, a spiky-haired 8-year-old who must now face the challenging ordeal of leaving the nest.
Ellie, the mother with whom Eden once shared an unbreakable bond (as we see in footage captured six years earlier), is more concerned with protecting her newborn, Emen, than with appeasing her eldest. Intercutting between this wide-eyed object of affection and a clearly envious Eden induces feelings of sympathy and smiles.
However, as Eden tentatively learns to fend for herself, her confidence grows. We see her amusingly getting rid of Olala, the youngest member of a rival family who briefly encroaches on her turf. And over the course of eight months, she forges a touching friendship with another orangutan, Sulli. Ellie’s tough love approach may seem harsh, but it gets results.
Attenborough doesn’t appear on camera, but his voice adds an authoritative and compelling presence, whether he is regaling us with remarkable facts, such as the that orangutans can share their travel plans through their calls; philosophising about parallels with humans (“Looking at an orangutan, it’s hard not to see something of ourselves”); or narrating the pratfalls and play-fights that occur within the lush Sumatran treetops.
Although more family-friendly than Attenborough’s BBC fare, Secret Lives of Orangutans doesn’t entirely shy away from moments when such physicality has far more serious consequences. Its subplot centres on a local battle for supremacy once a dominant male with the fabulous name of Split Lip Otto relinquishes his power. There is nothing to scar sensitive viewers, though: a slightly gouged cheek and a bruised ego are as bad as it get for poor Otto.
Indeed, with one eye on younger viewers, this Netflix original is often more like Animals Do the Funniest Things than a serious documentary: see how Eden’s childlike cousin Pepito tries to banish a nonchalant turtle, for example. It isn’t hard to imagine the film in a Saturday night line-up of light entertainment, and its whimsical soundtrack wouldn’t be out of place on kids’ TV.
Still, with drone technology allowing film-makers to get closer than ever to the Sumatran wild, the immersive cinematography of Secret Lives of Orangutans will leave older audiences spellbound, too. Its crash course on processional termites and the indigenous cemenang fruit feel may feel like tangents, but the film’s 80-minute running time ensures that it doesn’t outstay its welcome. File this in Attenborough’s vast oeuvre under “loveable but lightweight”.
Jon O’Brien is a writer based in Preston, Lancashire, UK
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