NENETTE
France, 2010, 70 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Nicolas Filibert.
Nicolas Filibert has a strong reputation in France for his documentaries. He achieved international notice with his film about primary education, Etre et Avoir. This time he has visited a zoo.
Nenette sounds a pretty name for a little girl. But, this time it is for a 40 year old gorilla from Malaysia who has been living at the zoo all these decades, partnering three male gorillas over the period and giving birth to four offspring, one of whom is still at the zoo.
What are we doing looking at a gorilla for 70 minutes? Are we like the crowds of adults and children who come to watch the gorillas, chatting, laughing, wondering, enjoying? Something like that. Are we like the film-maker who tends to hold his camera for long takes on Nenette’s face, contemplating her, the difference between gazing and gaping? Much more of the film is like that.
As we contemplate Nenette, we wonder about her life in captivity (the cage does not look in any way attractive), her bored look, her limited intelligence (as explained by the voiceover), her eating yoghurt from cartons and opening bottles of water, unscrewing the lids.
There is commentary from experts on gorillas, their history and evolution, their life in the wild, their intelligence and behaviour. Gerard, who has worked with Nenette for 35 years has many ideas but also acknowledges how much we do not know of how gorillas tick.
Nenette offers an opportunity to think as we watch, about the lives of animals and about human treatment of animals.
1. The impact of the documentary? Audience interest in the theme?
2. French, the French zoo, the zoo staff, the range of visitors? The musical score?
3. Gorillas coming from Malaysia, their history, Nenette and her being forty years old, the different partners, her offspring?
4. The role of the camera, gazing at Nenette, contemplating her, letting the audience wonder what was going on within Nenette’s mind? The contrast with the visitors, their chatter, playful, the different between gazing and gaping? The cinema audience – and the same response, gazing and gaping?
5. Nenette and her age, her history, simply sitting, her life, bored, the limited intelligence, like humans, different, not able to collect firewood but sitting by the fire, her eating, the yoghurt cups, unscrewing the bottle lids?
6. The other monkeys, her son, the little ones and their playing, the strength of gorillas, large, dangerous?
7. The cage and captivity, the ugliness of the cage and its surroundings? Gerard and his thirty-five years of working with Nenette, his comments, his understanding?
8. The studying of the gorillas, observations – to what purpose? Scientific?
9. The documentary style, editing and perspective, from the gorilla’s perspective, from the human perspective?
