I am a cat! 吾輩は猫である, Wagahai wa Neko de aru Director - Kon Ichikawa , 市川 崑 Year of Release - 1975 Duration - 88 minutes Genre - Comedy | Satire | Drama IMDB  Synopsis Kushami, the protagonist of the film, poses a dilemma for one who is not familiar with the Japanese literature. Kushami clearly embodies some of the attributes of Natsume Soseki, the Meiji Restoration-era novelist who also was a haiku poet, a writer of Chinese-style fairy tales and an expert on British literature. His 1905 novel "I Am A Cat" was a satirical look at Japanese society near the beginning of its career as imperialist power. Is the film's Kushami a faithful recreation of the (human) protagonist of Soseki's novel? If so, this version of the imaginative and productive Soseki takes self-deprecation to an extreme. Kushami is a lazybones and ditherer, who continually bemoans his position as middle-school teacher, who never seems to get anything done and who wastes a huge amount of time allowing himself to be distracted by uselessly chattering "friends," especially the intensely annoying Meitei (well-played by Juzo Itami). Any sensible person would have thrown this jerk out on his first visit. Kon Ichikawa is a very proliferate director. Here is a poster-reel with some of his films. Availability |
Orion1Apr 8, 2013 11:40 PM
| Are there multiple versions of this film? Because the one I saw is 2 hours long. I like this film. Great camerawork, good performances all around, and the narrative is focused despite fluttering conversations between characters. It is quite in line with Soseki's novel of the same name. Characters are portrayed exactly the way they are in the novel and I was able to recall every event from the source material. I think the main character likable. I too find myself lost in thought, not wanting to work, and distracted by random conversations with friends. The main thing missing is the cat. In the novel, every event is seen from the perspective of the cat. The cat's language is borderline pretentious and is the source of most of the story's humor. Without it, the film feels like it's missing something. It is enjoyable regardless and those who haven't read the novel won't notice, but I think this film is a case where those familiar with the source material will enjoy it more because they understand what's going through the head of the (mostly) silent cat portrayed in Ichikawa's adaptation. For those interested in checking out Soseki's novel, there is an excellent translation available on Amazon from Tuttle publishing. |
BluntZApr 10, 2013 7:35 AM
Movie of the Week Humanity and Paper Balloons ( Sadao Yamanaka, 1937 ) If you are a fan of (or simply interested in) Japanese films then please join the Cinema of Japan club! Thank you (: |
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