Romeo & Juliet: A Monkey's Tale

As "told" from the perspective of the titular heroine's cousin (courtesy of narrator Tim Hopper), Romeo & Juliet: A Monkey's Tale offers a remarkable balancing act on the part of writer-director Karina Holden. Because this is an Animal Planet production, Holden had to remain painstakingly truthful to the natural behaviors and habitats of Macaque monkeys living in the mountainous town of Lopburi, Thailand. Once all the footage was gathered, however, Holden then cut the material to match the narrative thrust of Shakespeare's best-known romantic tragedy, thus turning what might have been a conventional nature documentary into a Shakespearean drama complete with embattled families, forbidden love between so-called "enemies," and (in this case) a happy ending that will charm viewers of every age. This kind of anthropomorphism can be extremely awkward if it's done poorly, but Holden's respect for the natural behavior of the Macaques—here divided into the good-natured "Temple Troop" and the warmongering "Market Monkeys"—is well-matched to the events of Shakespeare's play, while also illustrating just how much we are like our ancestors. Recommended. Aud: H, P. (J. Shannon)