A Cat in Paris (Une vie de chat)
Directed by: Jean-Loup Felicioli, Alain Gagnol
Cast: Dominique Blanc, Bruno Salomone
Running Time: 1 hr 10 min
Rating: Not Rated
Showtimes at PIFF: Friday 2/10 6:15 at Cinemagic, Saturday 2/11 3:30 at Cinemagic, Thursday 2/16 6:30 at Pioneer Place 5 Complete PIFF Schedule
PLOT: By day, Dino is a house cat living with a silent little girl named Zoe. By night, he teams up with Nico for daring robberies, until one day, when his worlds collide after Zoe is kidnapped and he needs Nico to help rescue her.
WHO'S IT FOR? Older children and adults. Some of the action might be pretty scary for young kids.
OVERALL
This year's Oscar nominees include two surprise choices in the animation category. One is this film, A Cat in Paris. Using traditional cel animation combined with a unique character design reminiscent of Modigliani, it tells the story of a daring cat-burglar who commits crimes with the help of a house cat, Dino. Dino spends his days with Zoe, a mute little girl whose father was murdered. Her mother, Jeanne is a police detective searching for that killer. It will be no surprise that world's collide. But they do so elegantly in this tightly plotted film. The chases look great, as Dino and Nico glide across windowsills and rooftops, searching for loot. The characters are interesting, but not terribly deep. They each have a goal but lack too much dimension. This would be a problem if the pace wasn't so brisk. It's easy to sit back and just enjoy the story. It helps that the jazz soundtrack works so well with the action on screen. Long sections without dialogue never feel forced. It's a great film to see with kids, but they should be older. Not only for the subtitles, but also mature themes. Zoe is kidnapped and put in danger by the man who murdered her father. A Cat in Paris is very enjoyable, and I'm curious to know how it will do Oscar night.
FINAL SCORE: 7/10