All language subtitles for Documentary Now s04e05 My Monkey Grifter.eng

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♪

♪

Good evening.
I'm Helen Mirren.

And you're watching
"Documentary Now!" Season 53.

If a dog is a man's best friend,
what is a monkey?

In 2020,
filmmaker Benjamin Clay

set out to find the answer

and discovered far more
than he bargained for.

This is "My Monkey Grifter."

♪

[Bird cawing]

♪

Clay: Yeah, it was
quite a long time ago,

that day
that this all first started.

♪

I was going through
a very difficult time

personally and professionally.

♪

I had just released
my first documentary film,

"The Man Who Spoke to Birds,"

which told the story
of Horace Muntanay,

an elderly bird enthusiast
I'd met at a pub

who'd spent his life writing
a bird-to-human dictionary.

[Bird squawking]Muntanay: Did you hear that?

It was saying,
"It may rain soon."

[Bird squawking]

[Squawks]

I agree.

Clay: As someone who had trouble
communicating with people,

I was deeply touched
by his efforts.

[Bird chirping]
Ah!

Yet, when the film was released,

the man I had taken for a genius
was branded a dotty old plonker.

Whoo-hoo!
Whoo, whoo, whoo!

Making matters worse,

I was painted as a fool
for believing him

and at no point fact-checking
his scientific claims.

♪

One tabloid went so far
as to cruelly point out

that my wife's father was
a member of the House of Lords.

♪

This outcome put a huge strain
on my marriage.

My wife's quite wealthy family
had bankrolled my bird film

on the agreement
that should it not be a success,

I would get a, um --
a proper job.

I told her in a way,
the film had been a success

and that I knew now
more than ever

that my passion
was filmmaking...

at which point
she quite angrily took my son

to live with my in-laws
in their country house.

I was adrift, without purpose.

And that's when
I received the e-mail

that changed my life.

[Keyboard clacks]

"Dearest Mr. Clay,
I share your conviction

that animals and humans
can better communicate.

I was, in fact,
studying such an animal

at the Etherington Zoo
in Ipswhistle --

a female rhesus monkey
named Lulu,

who I believe capable
of sign language.

I've been called back home
on a family matter,

but perhaps you can see if she
would make a worthy subject

for one of your films.

With admiration,

Dr. Mbeko Mwenda,
Kenyan Zoological Institute."

I went first thing
the next morning.

♪

I have fond memories
of my father

taking me to the zoo
as a child.

And as I passed
through the menagerie,

I became quite emotional...

[Camera shutter clicks]

...reflecting on the distance
I now felt from my own son.

[Foot thuds, crowd cheering]

Man: Goal!

Clay: It was in that moment
of vulnerability

that I first
laid eyes on Lulu.

♪

There was a kindness in her face

that had been absent
from the people in my life.

While they peppered me
with aggressive questions like,

"Did you really think that
crazy man could talk to birds?"

or, "How could you forget

it was Nigel's birthday?"
Lulu exuded empathy.

But nothing could prepare me
for what happened next.

♪

She waved at me.

♪

I decided right then

that Lulu would be
the subject of my next film,

and that I would spend every day
with her for a full year

and use it to tell
the story of a man

who learned
to speak to a monkey,

and through their conversations,
become a better husband,

a better father,
and a better person.

I excitedly wrote
Dr. Mwenda my plans,

and he in turn informed me

that his foundation
was awarding me

a grant of £200,000
to make my film.

I then called my wife
to share the good news,

hopeful that she would see,
as I did,

the importance of this journey
I was about to embark upon.

She hung up
without saying a word.

[Dial tone]Hello? Hello?

But I knew she'd been there

because I could hear
her sighing.

♪

Clay:
There was an uncommon grace to the way Lulu held herself,

a mannered way that she ate.

I was enamored
with her every move.

Yet it was the quiet moments
when we held each other's gaze

that I-I felt most connected.

♪

Dr. Mwenda had explained

that she didn't speak
American Sign Language per se,

but a language that
he had developed with her.

I would send him
photos of her movements,

and he would write back
what each gesture meant.

♪

[Chuckles]

♪

After a week in her presence,

I made my first attempt
to speak to her.

♪

Soon, Lulu and I could speak
not in full sentences,

but in -- in fragments.

♪

♪

When I compared
these conversations to the hours

I had spent trying to just
explain myself to my wife,

or worse yet, my wife's father,

I realized...

I was already closer to Lulu

than I had ever been
to another human being.

♪

In her presence,
I felt no judgment.

And yet to truly put myself
on her level,

I-I-I instinctively knew
that there was --

There was one more barrier
that I-I would need to remove.

♪

Standing there before her

without the layers
of the human world, I felt...

alive.

♪

I'd put myself at her level,
and it was beautiful.

Man: Oi! The bloody hell do you
think you're doing, mate?!

Then I heard the voice
of the zookeeper,

and I thought,
"This is not good."

Game's over, you perv.

What was undoubtedly
the happiest moment of my life

was interrupted when
the zookeeper informed me

that I was not allowed
to disrobe on the premises.

And you're filming
without a permit.

Can I have a permit?

♪

Yeah, all right.
100 quid.

£100?

Can I fetch my trousers?

Yes.

The money wasn't a problem,
thanks to my research grant.

But the wire from Kenya
had not yet arrived

due to what Dr. Mwenda referred
to as unforeseen red tape.

He urged me to find a way to
make payments to the zookeeper

in the meantime.

My best
and only course of action

was to, um, pawn

some
of my wife's family heirlooms.

[Bell ringing]

While I took no great pride
in doing so,

I-I-I did take great pride
in imagining my wife's reaction

when she saw how much
the making of this documentary

was changing
who I was as a person.

♪

Dr. Mwenda wrote to say he had
never seen a stronger friendship

than the one
between Lulu and me.

He suggested
I-I-I give her a gift.

Something that was
meaningful to me.

Something with my name on it.

I decided on
a silver engraved lighter

that had been a gift
from my wife in simpler times,

before she'd become
so impossibly difficult.

As I handed the lighter to Lulu,

I realized I was offering
this gift with the same love

my wife had once had for me.

How shocked I was when Lulu
offered me a gift in return.

The most stunning gold watch.

♪

♪

In the weeks that followed,
I began to wonder,

"Does Lulu dream?

And if so,
does she dream about me?

And -- And if she dreams
about me,

am I a man or a hairless monkey?

[Wind blowing]

One evening, these ruminations
were interrupted

when I returned to my flat

and found my wife
demanding to know

where certain paintings
and antiques were.

You're not gonna like this.

I sold them
for the documentary,

the monkey documentary.

Monk-- Monkeys?!

I tried to tell her
about the documentary,

but she only scoffed.

It's going
to make me a better husband.

It's going to make me
a better father.

You are a terrible husband
and a terrible father.

[Echoing] Father.
Father.

Right. Well, look...

She told me
she was filing for sole custody

and kicking me
out of the flat...

which was devastating

because that's where
I'd set up my monkey board.

I was angry, and in my anger,
I'm ashamed to say

that I told Lulu I hated Ann,
going so far

as to venture
that my life would be better

if Ann was out of it entirely.

[Screeching]

Watching Lulu,
I knew in my heart

that she was taking it all in.

♪

I just didn't realize
how seriously she took me.

[Telephone rings]

Hello?

Later that day, I received
a phone call from my son,

telling me that my wife
had taken a bad fall

down the stairs
and was in hospital.

His grandparents
were out of town,

so I had to pick him up.

What happened?
I need to know what happened.

He said that she had slipped
on a banana peel...

Boy: Dad!...which he said was strange

because there hadn't been
any bananas in the house.

♪

[Ann screams]

My mind was racing, you know.

Had I somehow miscommunicated my
feelings about my wife to Lulu

to the scale that
she'd actually taken action?

I tried to retrace the steps
of what I had said,

only to be interrupted
by my son,

who asked,
Did I pull his Xbox, too?

Yes.

The next morning, I raced
to the zoo to confront Lulu

and demanded to know,

"Did you have anything to do
with my wife's injury?"

But as soon
as I reached her cage,

I could tell something
had changed between us.

She was resistant
to any of my sign language

and kept looking over
at the zookeeper's shed.

My heart sank as I realized
Lulu had taken me literally

when I spoke
of wishing Ann dead.

♪

Making matters worse,
she now expected me

to incapacitate her zookeeper.

I explained to Lulu that I was,
uh, unwilling

to commit an act of violence.

This only made her more angry.

[Screeching]

She had done me a favor,

and now she expected me
to repay it.

Clay: I asked myself,
"Could it be possible

that I never truly knew
this monkey?

Could she have been
using me this whole time?

And more importantly,
could my wife

connect
her banana-induced fall to me?"

♪

With a heavy heart,
I knew the best course of action

was to say goodbye to Lulu...

forever.

♪

♪

When I arrived, I was surprised
to find the police were there.

[Siren wailing,
indistinct conversations]

♪

Whoa, whoa, whoa.
It's a crime scene.

Clay:
When I asked what had happened,

I was told the zookeeper
had been murdered

by a blow to the head
with a blunt object.

♪

Can I ask you
a few questions?

A Detective Inspector Blakely

asked for my contact
information,

and unsure what else I could do,
I just -- I agreed.

I-I-I raced home and -- and
was surprised to find my son.

What are you doing here?

You forgot
to take me to school.

Oh, I don't have time
for this.

I had to start dismantling
my Lulu research,

believing it necessary
to eliminate

any evidence that I knew her.
I told my son...

Don't tell anyone about this.
Not at school, not anywhere.

And he said...

I don't talk about you at all
'cause you're so weird.

[Echoing] I don't talk about you
at all 'cause you're so weird.

♪

That night, I felt a sadness,
you know,

knowing that I would never
see my friend again.

♪

But I also felt joy,

knowing that she'd forever
changed the kind of man I was.

It wasn't clear to me
how I had changed.

Only that it had happened
deep inside of me.

Yes.[Telephone rings]

The next morning,
Detective Blakely called to ask

if I could stop by the station
to answer a few questions.

♪

[Door creaking]

[Door slams]

When I arrived, I was brought
into an interview room.

♪

I'm gonna show you
a few things. Oh.

One is a photo...

if you look here.

♪

Do you know that is?

Um...

Somewhat familiar. Does --
Does he work at the zoo?

He works at the zoo,
yeah.

♪

Look closer.
What else do you see?

I...

Do you see
anything else...

familiar?

♪

That's your watch.

Right?
We have the same watch.

This was given to me
as a gift by Lulu the monkey.

A gift?

Yes.

Lulu gave you a gift?
Why?

We formed, um,
an unprecedented friendship.

Right. She wrap it?
No.

She make you a card?

No.

[Chuckles]

Did Lulu drop this, then,
at the crime scene?

You're in a lot of trouble.
No one will believe you.

You'll be put away
a long time.

[Echoing]
You'll be put away a long time.

♪

But...

I can make it all go away.

I'll need a gift from you.

Like Lulu.
Take the watch.

Don't want the watch.

I want
half a million pounds.

No, I don't have
half a million pounds,

if that's what you mean.

But you do.

Your father in-law
is an art collector.

At the time,
I was in too much shock

to inquire how he knew
who my father-in-law was

or how valuable
his art collection was

or -- or why he had
an itemized list

of the exact pieces he wanted.

♪

I simply acted.

I can do that. Yep.

Now, I knew
that my father-in-law

would never trust me
in his home,

but he would trust my son.

So I returned Nigel
to their home

with a specific set
of instructions.

♪

♪

[Classical music plays]

♪

♪

Oh, look at that.
Stunning.

Fantastic.

Yeah.

Nicely done.

♪

[Doorbell rings]

Sadly, the relief I felt
was short-lived.

♪

It seems the butler
at my in-laws' manor

had seen my son throwing the art
from the windows.

Master Nigel!

Once confronted, my son...

immediately gave me up.

I explained
to these new detectives

about how Blakely
had blackmailed me,

only for them to tell me

that, um, there was no such man
on the force.

I took them to the building
where I had been interrogated,

only to find that it was empty.

♪

[Door creaking]

♪

The zoo was also abandoned.

♪

And when we entered
the zookeeper's shed,

everything became crystal clear.

♪

Lulu had manipulated me

every step of the way

down to the tiniest of details,

taking advantage of
our beautiful friendship.

If I learned anything
from my time with Lulu,

it was this --

Never trust a fucking monkey.

Clay: I had hoped that
by opening myself up

to a member
of the animal kingdom,

I would become a better human
being, a better husband,

a better father.

Instead, in return
for my father-in-law

not pressing charges,

I gave up full custody
of my son.

And my wife's last words
to me were,

"If I ever see you again,

I'll push youdown
a flight of stairs."

And on top of that,
I still have community service.

I did see Lulu again.

[Tires screeching]

♪

And she did communicate with me

one final time.

♪

♪

[Tires screeching]

♪

I, of course, am confident that
once Dr. Mwenda comes forward,

I will be completely exonerated.

U-Unfortunately, a Dr. Mwenda
was recently arrested,

but I have just wired him the
funds for legal representation.

So...

Oh, shit.

Shit.

Man: Break.

Shit, shit, shit.

[Door opens]

♪

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