10 April 2012
Nenette is a 40-year-old orang-utan who has resided at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris since 1972 and looks bored stiff. The purpose of Nicolas Philibert's documentary is not to gaze at her but to listen to what the passers-by say.
The director calls his film a metaphor for the cinema itself - and it works well. But though it's the humans who fascinate him most, Nénette is the real star. She is from Borneo and has been 37 years in captivity, had three mates and given birth to four children. Now, in the late autumn of her life, she just sits and stares at us through rheumy eyes. One wonders what she would say about her watchers if only she could.
Nenette
Cert: PG
