She is 40 years old, lives in Paris, has long, reddish hair, seems lost in thought and has a majestic aura about her: Nénette, the film's star, is an orang-utan from the ape house at the Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes. Nénette is a professional: she is relaxed and indifferent as she takes in the parade of people who file past her glass cage daily. From her gallery, she looks down on the goings-on of her younger fellows and watches the visitors, who often just come for her sake.