Review: The Rabbi’s Cat
With the cinematic landscape littered with talking animals, you may find yourself slightly apprehensive at the thought of seeing a film about a talking cat with a foreign accent who goes on a voyage of discovery – especially as the feline in question does not don appropriate footwear. However, as I was pleased to discover, the film I saw did not rely on the kind of devices that so many big screen animations tend to use and made for a rather pleasing viewing experience.
“The Rabbi’s Cat” directed by Joann Sfar is an animated feature based on the graphic novel by the same director. The audience follows Rabbi Sfar and his daughter Zlabya in Algiers in the 1930s. When the Rabbi’s cat gobbles up the pet parrot, he is given the gift of speech. He quickly begins to irritate the Rabbi, not by singing a musical number, as you may expect from a film about a talking cat, but by questioning religion in some hilarious scenes that deal expertly with rather mature subject matters.
It is very rare for a film that focuses on religion to entertain as thoroughly as this film does without coming across as patronising, or worse still, boring the audience. Although the focus on Judaism is central to this film, I sometimes felt a little lost amongst the references to a religion I am not overly familiar with. Although, despite that, there were more than enough relatable references for anyone to enjoy. A particular scene when a crocodile is eaten because it is kosher ranked as one of the funnier moments in the story. I saw the film at the UK Jewish Film festival and with a (presumably) Jewish audience and the entire cinema laughed along to every joke.
Hand Drawn Frame from the film
The style that this film is presented in closely resembles the graphic novel from which it originates and remains relatively faithful to the original character designs. The animation fits in well with the lavishly detailed backgrounds that have thankfully not been simplified as part of the translation from comic page to screen. The character animation is commendable also, as each character fits well into their own skin. The style appears fluid in parts, which is refreshing and not in the least bit distracting. The style changes altogether for portions of the film in order to add to the mystery of the story, and without giving too much away, this adds a little question over the rather ambiguous ending.
The story may be the only slight dent in this film. Not that it bores, it just appears to lack structure. There are too many characters that are introduced and then lack purpose. The best example of this is Cousin Malka – Rabbi Sfar’s lion-taming cousin, who turns up and delivers a rather entertaining scene in which he and his enormous pet lion scare away a cafe full of Anti-Semites that had previously refused service to his Jewish cousin; but, thats it. The character is then left to babysit the Rabbi’s daughter, another fantastic character in her own right – she is unfortunately underused in the latter part of the film, whilst the other characters that have steadily collected over the story set off in search of a legendary city full of African Jews, an element in the story that appears a little too late.
For its very minimal faults, this is an engaging, entertaining and enlightening feature, and is worth the trip to see it, if you can. The animation is fluid and the style works perfectly without losing any of the original appeal. The characters, although numerous, are well realised and their personalities radiate from the screen.
This film’s greatest achievement is keeping the tricky subject of religion entertaining without insulting or ridiculing it, and without letting it get in the way of the films agenda to entertain, which it does splendidly. The Rabbi’s Cat is a film that takes that ‘leap of faith’ that most animated feature films lack, and lands perfectly on its feet.
The making of Rabbi’s Cat…
and more video can be seen here… http://vimeo.com/user6584121/videos