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'When the Cat's Away,' the director will play -- with form
June 27, 1997
Web posted at: 3:37 p.m. EDT (1937 GMT)From Reviewer Paul Tatara
(CNN) -- Movies that attempt to follow the winding path of "real" life are problematic for a number of reasons. Though few audience members bother to notice, most films conform to a stringently predetermined pattern. This is a three-act structure that, very roughly speaking, means "beginning-middle-end." A shark attacks, they search for the shark, they kill the shark. Rocky gets a shot at the title, he trains, he fights the big fight.
French filmmaker Cédric Klapisch's new comedy, "When the Cat's Away," wanders far from this structure. At first it seems truly aimless, but after a while Klapisch's skill with dialogue, and the inherent charm of Garance Clavel, his lead actress, gives the film a much-needed center.
Clavel plays Chloé, a lonely young Parisian woman, who, at the beginning of the film, is searching for someone to take care of her cat, Gris-Gris, while she takes a brief seaside vacation. We see her wandering her beautiful but graffiti-scarred neighborhood, following a trail of leads that eventually brings her to the apartment of Madame Renée (Renée Le Calm), an eccentric old woman who seemingly takes care of half the cats in Paris. When Chloé returns from her vacation (which, as far as the film is concerned, consists of a three-second shot her rising out of the ocean and taking a deep breath), Renée has somehow managed to lose Gris-Gris.
The rest of the movie consists mainly of Chloé's attempts to find her cat, following yet another trail of leads. This is where Klapisch does something very smart ... and something that a lot of American independent filmmakers would be wise to take notice of. Though Chloé's search for Gris-Gris guides the action, her chance encounters around Paris aren't as random as they may seem.
That is to say, Klapisch structures the action thematically -- Chloé is lonely and endlessly searching for something, or someone, to take away that loneliness. At the risk of sounding pretentious (and the movie is anything but), the movie is about Chloé's search for something approaching emotional salvation. For a while, she thinks it's her cat. With this in mind, Klapisch starts layering on an assortment of eccentrics who have their own problems, but Chloé's search is always touched upon, even in the most far-ranging scenes.
This is where a lot of the more "adventurous" American filmmakers usually go wrong. I put the word in quotes because very often these experimental-looking films are badly handled not because of some revolutionary technique, but due of directors nowadays seem ready to argue that 88 minutes of people talking is the same thing as a movie. Lack of a coherent base idea for the rambling monologues is usually explained by citing the old "the modern world is too fractured for us to focus" argument. Never mind that teen-agers have used the same argument to explain their confusion since the dawn of man. Very untalented adult directors feel the same way.
Entire movie trailer
3.8 MB/46 sec. QuickTime movie
Clip: Chloé meets Madam Reneé
"When the Cat's Away's" menagerie of characters are always searching, whether it be for a missing cat, a place to get a cheap cup of coffee, or an understanding soul mate. This is an exceedingly buoyant film, considering the tinge of loneliness that informs a lot of the scenes. Clavel is a glowing waif, the kind of woman that you see a lot of in French films, but her character is given depth by the sadness in her walk, and the way she withdraws when she's around other people. She's barely there in her job as a high fashion makeup artist, humorously swallowed up by the amazons who surround her. She has an indomitable spirit, though. Watching ChloŽ slowly open up to the world around her is funny and touching, the pleasing transformation of a butterfly into a very happy butterfly.
The surprise highlight of the film (as far as the performances go) comes from Renée Le Calm, a non-actress playing the cat lady. Le Calm is hilarious when bemoaning the loss of the kitty. She immediately jumps into gear (or as immediately as a woman her age can manage) and starts spreading the word to a tightly knit group of old cat lovers around Paris. The task of finding Gris-Gris takes on the aura of a military maneuver as the city is broken down into sectors where the cat is most likely to be hiding out.
Le Calm delivers every line of dialogue as if she's making a pronouncement of the ultimate truth. (If you're looking for a cat, put a bowl of Whiskas in the window.) She and Clavel also have a sad but wonderful scene in which they find a dead cat in an empty lot, and, upon realizing it isn't Gris-Gris, are seized with joy. "There's still hope," Le Calm cries out as the camera focuses on the very unlucky black cat.
This is a breeze of a movie that deserves an audience. Now that you've seen "Batman Uber Alles," maybe something with a human heart would be nice change of pace.
"When the Cat's Away" contains some bad language, a reasonably graphic depiction of Chloé gay roommate having sex, and a few bedroom scenes with Chloé herself. Not rated. 95 minutes.
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- When the Cat's Away - ©: 1997 Cinema1
- When The Cat's Away - Sony Pictures
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