Film Reviews

Nenette

• Rating:
• Director: Nicolas Philibert
• Starring:
• Details: France / 70mins (U).

A documentary on an orangutan, eh? Not exactly unmissable, Nicolas Philibert's documentary, even at 70 mins, feels stretched. It would have made a lovely and touching short (10 minutes or so) but there's not enough here to warrant a feature length documentary.
Philibert's camera focuses on Nénette, a 41-year-old orangutan who has been a resident and star attraction of Paris' Jardin Des Plantes zoo since 1972. A mother of four (one of whom still shares her cage) and recovering from a recent operation, Nénette lounges around, staring at the passers-by. We don't see her visitors - who range from zoo keepers to artists to school children, to the odd political protest - but we do hear what they have to say, and Nénette, with her never-changing expression, stares on.
The voices inform us on Nénette's life and the life of orangutans in general. This isn't a David Attenborough documentary but more of a gentle observation, with the stories involving orangutans making tea (with sugar) and eating yoghurt. A lot of stories inform us what Nénette and her buddies sometimes get up to, but Philibert missed out on all that. What the viewer gets are endless shots of orangutans doing what orangutans do in a cage - nothing in particular. The inevitable human comparisons are here (the male orangutans are called 'men') with the zookeepers commenting on Nénette's 'personality' and that she sometimes suffers from depression.
This documentary can a peaceful watch, though, and Philibert's close ups of Nénette's eyes have a meditative quality; the director has a nice touch of killing the sound every so often so the viewer watches Nénette and co in silence. However, although Philibert and the zookeepers love her and strive to show how special Nénette is, she never comes across more than just another orangutan. And why she deserves a documentary, albeit a short one, is another matter altogether.

Review by Gavin Burke