Nenette reviews
Review by on 23 Sep 2010
I'm probably as close as you get to being a fervent Nicholas Philibert fan, with previous films ETRE ET AVOIR and LES MOINDRE DES CHOSES being high on my list of favourite documentaries. So it was a real disappointment that the switch from human to animal subjects in NENETTE doesn't work in displaying his usual compassion and restrained wit. His films typically don't include dramatic events, but here absolute inactivity sustains virtually the entire film, with the commentary adding nothing revelatory.
At 40, Nenette is the oldest orangutan in captivity. After being taken from the forests of Borneo as a youngster, she has endured 37 years in a pitiful enclosure at the Paris Jardins des Plantes being gawped at by children. She cuts a beautiful if melancholic figure as she languishes, blinks and sighs. At the height of her endeavours she eats a yoghurt. Loathe as I am to admit it this just doesn't sustain interest for 70 minutes.
Much as I tried to avoid anthropomorphising, Nenette really does look depressed. Her expressions closely mirror those of an intensely bored human aware that they have reached the pinnacle of an unfulfilling life. This film confirms widely held ideas if nothing else; zoos are cruel and of dubious worth, and apes are close in mannerisms, appearance and genes to humans, which is part of what makes them fascinating to watch… for a few minutes anyway.
Sarah Chorley
At 40, Nenette is the oldest orangutan in captivity. After being taken from the forests of Borneo as a youngster, she has endured 37 years in a pitiful enclosure at the Paris Jardins des Plantes being gawped at by children. She cuts a beautiful if melancholic figure as she languishes, blinks and sighs. At the height of her endeavours she eats a yoghurt. Loathe as I am to admit it this just doesn't sustain interest for 70 minutes.
Much as I tried to avoid anthropomorphising, Nenette really does look depressed. Her expressions closely mirror those of an intensely bored human aware that they have reached the pinnacle of an unfulfilling life. This film confirms widely held ideas if nothing else; zoos are cruel and of dubious worth, and apes are close in mannerisms, appearance and genes to humans, which is part of what makes them fascinating to watch… for a few minutes anyway.
Sarah Chorley
Review by on 20 Sep 2010
Second gem of festival - an enquiry into humanity through those restless, unfathomable, simian eyes
Film details
Nenette
DOCUMENTARIES
Director: Nicolas Philibert
France, 2009.
68 mins. with English subtitles.
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