Review of Felidae (1994) by Ocram I — 12 Aug 2012

I hate that animation is automatically thought to be for kids,' when that's not always the case. Animation is meant to show something that cannot be shown on film, or would not be best portrayed on film. Felidae is a deep, philosophical, dark and brutal murder story with complex characters and backgrounds. Not by any means should anyone ever describe this as a cartoon. A cartoon is meant to be silly and funny, this is not. This movie isn't a childish animation, it's grimly realistic, stilted, creepily laid out, and has a great deal of uncanny valley that neither live action nor CGI' could ever get.

Enough of that, let's get to the good stuff.

Felidae is a daring German animated movie yet the vast majority of the English-speaking world has not heard of this. What gives? Of course, since the story is about murder, this film is not your typical family movie... at all. In fact, the violence is probably graphic enough to turn most people away, but it's worth it.

The movie begins with Francis, who is gifted with a cleverness beyond that of the typical house cat, moving into a new neighborhood where a feline serial killer appears to be on the loose. While his new friend, a battle-scarred and foul-mouthed tom by the name of Bluebeard, shares the belief of the other cats in the neighborhood that the bloody murders are the work of a human, Francis thinks that the evidence points to another cat, and sets out to sniff out the culprit. His search brings him in contact with a suicidal cat cult who worship a perhaps mythical super-feline martyred at the hands of a sadistic human scientist (and who express their worship through a ritual of mass self-electrocution); and later leads him to discover that the very house he and his owner have moved into may have been the site of the fabled atrocities - which in reality go way beyond what anyone could previously have imagined.

Francis is guided in his search by a series of vivid dreams which make up some of Felidae's most memorable and horrifying moments. I DARE anyone who has seen this film to forget the mentally scarring spectacle of a gigantic Gregor Mendel rising up from a huge feline killing field to wield hundreds of mangled cat corpses as puppets. Another disturbing image occurs when Francis and Bluebeard stumble upon an underground catacomb filled with decomposing and skeletal kitty remains, at which point they realize that, contrary to what they thought, the killer they've been tracking is responsible for the murder of, not just several, but hundreds of their brothers and sisters.

What will surprise the average viewer is how well the character designs of the cats, and the vividly colored backgrounds, link the violent content. The animation itself is very fluid and during the dream sequences: Holy Crown! What I love about the movie is that the content isn't violence all over the place, but instead, these elements are handled in service to the plot. It is maturely restrained, rather than feeling like it throws these things around merely to show how "dark" it is. This attempt to color violence with art is executed quite well. Oh and you know what is really neat? No tired Disney clichés.

Overall, an excellent movie. The pacing is fantastic, the characters fun, and the plot engaging, twisty and compelling. The mature elements are handled smoothly and fit naturally within the plot, and the film does a great job of believably transferring a murder mystery into the realm of animated cats. While I do understand why the movie didn't get a theatrical release(I think the reason is pretty obvious) in America, it is a movie that deserves more attention.

Given the high level of artistry of this movie, I'm so glad that Felidae was made in 1994 - rather than today, when it would undoubtedly have been done with CGI. I'm sick of CGI and the medium's post-modern appeal. I'm sick of the way every big film coming out of Hollywood these days rely so much on CGI. Take away the effects and large chunks of the film literally ceases to exist. At cinemas everywhere big event films are constantly trying to one-up each other, and several thousand effect shots are not uncommon in a new movie. Sure, it might be okay for films that are just a series of gags, but as a narrative? Especially one that requires the attention to detail that Felidae does - it's just a distraction. Drawn 2D animation is definitely the right style for creating the kind of reality that's needed to invest in a vision as Felidae. Not only that, but this film should stand as a testament of traditional animation in the face of the cookie-cutter CGI features that hog our theater screens each holiday season.