Koko: A Talking Gorilla

Barbet Schroeder’s Swiss geologist father was on assignment in Iran when he was born. After a globe-trotting childhood, Schroeder was educated at the Sorbonne; then, like half the under-30 population of France (or so it seemed), he became a movie critic. Brief jobs as a jazz concert producer and news photographer followed before Schroeder went to work as an assistant for one of his role models, French director Jean-Luc Godard. In 1964, the 22-year-old Schroeder set up his own film production company, Les Films du Losange. Among the many prominent pictures produced by Schroeder include director Eric Rohmer’s “Moral Tales” La Collectioneuse (1966), My Night at Maud’s (1969), and Claire’s Knee (1970). Schroeder himself turned director with 1969’s More, gaining critical attention with several unorthodox documentaries. With the American film Barfly (1987), Schroeder established himself as a prime purveyor of “slice of life” drama — albeit entertaining enough to please the crowd. Oscar nominated for his take-no-sides direction of Reversal of Fortune (1990), the story of the controversial Claus von Bulow case, Schroeder then helmed the tense — and successful — “cat-and-mouse” thriller Single White Female (1992). —allmovie guide