Original subtitles

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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."

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[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.

♪

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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.

♪

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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.

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[Classical music plays]

♪

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Oh, look at that. Stunning.

Fantastic.

Yeah.

Nicely done.

♪

[Doorbell rings]

Sadly, the relief I felt was short-lived.

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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.

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[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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