Ciné Tamaris
Starring: Philippe Noiret, Silvia Monfort
Directed by: Agnès Varda

Cat Out of the Bag Alert!  This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: The story of a small fishing village, La Pointe Courte, and its residents, including native boat builder Lui (Philippe Noiret) and his visiting Parisian wife Elle (Silvia Monfort) who may not be able to settle for life in such a small community.

Cat Cattle Call: Cats always seem to be in the background of director Varda’s early works and this, her first film, is no exception.  For once a fishing village on film is filled with cats, as one would imagine it should be.

While most of the cats are seen only in the background of the scenes, some are given close ups and even referred to in the dialogue.  For instance, when Lui brings his wife to his small home there is a cat lying on the table.  Lui even pets the cat as he enters.

There is a black cat which appears several times in the film.  Usually it is seen in the background when Lui and Elle are talking.  In one scene she is sitting beside two women who are cleaning shellfish on the shore and the women talk about how the cat appears to be pregnant again.

The black cat steals the scene away from the lead actors when she appears on a woodpile behind them and stretches, yawns and even approaches the actors at one point.

A small white cat with black markings is also seen sitting on a table right before a man slams his fist down beside the cat to make a point.  The cats are very calm around the people and this cat just gets up and jumps off the table without being too startled.

Kitty Carnage Warning!  The proliferation of cats is discussed by the villagers, who wonder what they are going to do with them all.  At the end of the film a family are boarding a small boat to leave the village and a child is begging his uncle not to drown all of the kittens, to leave him one.  This practice would explain an earlier shot of what appears to be a drowned kitten washed up on the shore.

Final Mewsings: This village desperately needs a catch, neuter and release program!

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