SJB Review of When the Cat's Away
Chacun Cherche Son Chat
(France, 1996); released in the US under the title When the Cat's Away
Seen on 22 June 1997 with Tony for $8 at the Quad Cinema.
Based on a true incident, director Cedric Klapish discovers that the search for a lost cat in the Bastille section of Paris turns up a lot more than you might think. Chloe (Garance Clavel) lives with Michel (Olivier Py), who really doesn't want to look after Gris-Gris (Arapimou), her black cat. She eventually finds Madame Renee (played by chatty non-actor Renee Le Calm), who has at least a half-dozen cats and several dogs in her charge. Imagine Chloe's horror when she returns to discover that Gris-Gris has flown the coop. Madame Renee springs into action, though, with her network of other septuagenarian friends in their Bastille neighborhood. She goes on daily treks with the local simpleton Djamel (Zinedine Soualem), and little old ladies spot her a mile away with their advice and sympathies.
As Chloe--a make-up assistant--searches for Gris-Gris, she undergoes a change. She becomes immersed in her neighborhood and becomes part of it. It is impossible to overlook the forces destroying the personality fabric of the neighborhood--evictions, demolitions, and gentrification. As we are treated to a view of the rooftops of Paris, large cranes loom over the neighborhood. At one point the camera lingers as a giraffe-like bulldozer eats away at the top portion of a church it is destroying. Chloe's transformation is complete as she runs into a work acquaintance--who has just opened a trendy shop--while searching for her cat with Madame Renee and another crony. The new shop owner looks at Chloe's friends askance while then loudly criticize the store and its wares ("Who would pay 800 francs for a metal bra?").
Most urban dwellers can empathize with this Parisian neighborhood's woes; the march of realty development and how it makes irrevocable changes is a universal phenomenon, and urbaphiles everywhere will sadly recognize "the beginning of the end" as it is shown here. The camera works mainly as an onlooker. Chloe's loneliness is evident as she watches others have love lives--her roommate Michel features a new boyfriend every week, people at bars have each other, while men and women she doesn't want hit on her. But, as Chloe becomes a real part of the neighborhood, she begins to discover that happiness can be found right there in your own arrondissement.
NOTE: Watch carefully for the hilarious depiction of Claire's vacation. If you turn away or blink, you'll miss it for sure!
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