Secret Lives of Orangutans

Good movie!

Good movie!

Good movie!

Good movie!

Good movie!

Good movie!

This documentary follows a couple of Orangutans over the course of about 5 years or so. Strong points: Because of the use of drones and high resolution cameras, everything looks incredibly good. There is a lot of great zoomed in footage which really lets you see these magnificent animals up close. Another strong point is the ever soothing voice of Sir Attenborough. He tells about the Orangutans with compassion and empathy, as though he were talking about his own grandchildren. It really adds to the good feel of the documentary. Weak points: Unfortunately, despite the documentary being fairly long, I felt that there was quite little information. It focuses mostly (too much) on their eating habits, which is a bit boring. For instance, I would have really liked to hear more about dangers (like predators and illnesses). Also, more information about their mating habits could have been interesting. Or perhaps more information about where they fit in the evolutionary tree of life. And some more information about how the humans close to their habitat are involved in the Orangutans' lives. Furthermore, I would have liked to hear more factual knowledge. So, instead of saying that Friska at 60 is one of the eldest there, there is no information on the average age or maximum age. Also, the narrator keeps alluding to the difficulty of making it as an adult, but no information on what prevents Orangutans from being successful (predators? Disease? Accidents? Hunger? Fights? Unable to find a mate? Humans? Climate?). Conclusion: All in all, it is a well worth documentary to watch for the visuals alone, but I feel like they could have done more with the material. 8/10.