Kedi (Ceyda Torun)

[Stay Puft]

KEDI (aka NINE LIVES: CATS IN ISTANBUL)
Dir. Ceyda Torun

http://i.imgur.com/lv2Xr5m.jpg

IMDb page (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4420704/)

[TGM]

I really wanna see this movie.

[Stay Puft]

I enjoyed it, even if it sorta just flirts with anthropomorphism for 80 minutes. It props up a few cats as a colorful cast of characters for us to get to know, and interviews some of the people who interact with them along the way. The movie basically refuses to editorialize or politicize, so a lot of random topics and sound bites just kinda float in the air and go nowhere (exception: the sentiment "cats are just like people" is repeated by many of the interviewees, goes unchallenged, and as such becomes the film's thesis statement). There are some genuinely touching scenes, when we see how some of the cats and people have had their lives improved through interacting with each other, and I wish the movie had focused more on this and sought to provide more context, insight, or anything really. Instead, it's documentary filmmaking as sentimental crowd pleaser. Gosh darn those cats really are adorable, though.

[Ivan Drago]

As a filmmaker, I liked this movie. It doesn't spend a lot of time on the themes of modernization as it should, but all the cats have as much personality as the citizens interviewed, and it's very hopeful throughout. So...it's everything a documentary about cats should be, I guess. But as a cat person, I loved this movie.

[Spinal]

(exception: the sentiment "cats are just like people" is repeated by many of the interviewees, goes unchallenged, and as such becomes the film's thesis statement)

Where's Werner Herzog when you need him?

(still want to see it)

[Mal]

It's like having a gourmet whoopie pie - simplistic but a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

The cats are adorable and the movie is the perfect length. It lacks depth but thats perfectly alright. I did look at my cat a little different for a few days... he's very confident.

[Sycophant]

I thought this was excellent. While a few interviewees offer ideas along the lines of "they're just like people!" they are pretty well counterbalanced by people who describe living with a cat as like living with an alien lifeform. That the film isn't forcing a reading on what cats are, but merely offering how people interpret cats while offering us plenty of un-narrated moments to test those and our own beliefs is what gives the film a really satisfying texture, even if it's not particularly deep.

The footage captured here is pretty astonishing. I didn't want this movie to end (though it really is like perfect length). They apparently shot a bunch more stories about a bunch more cats and whittled it down to the few featured here, but I'd totally take a loosely edited five hour supercut of MORE CATS.

[Spinal]

I do not prefer dogs, but I thought this was pretty dull. The stories the humans tell are fairly inane and seldom enlightening. We get the same damn aerial shot of Istanbul over and over. Overall, the film doesn't have a thesis that is compelling enough to sustain my attention. Do I really need to go to the movie theater to see cat videos?

[Peng]

Craft never rise above serviceable, but cat video + people video + city video provide more than enough material to compensate, depicting a quietly stirring portrait of an warm community. 6.5/10