Sekai kara neko ga kietanara

The Japanese not only know how to make strange films but also how to create human, emotionally charged movies without being pandering. Such is the case with If Cats Disappeared from the World, a film that can get you with its slow pace and sensitivity, as well as beautiful cinematography, whether urban or landscape, where the shots are simply stunning in places. (28.11.2016)

The trailer doesn’t lie: this is a total tear-jerker. Even the heart of the jaded film cynic melted, the chin soon quivered and there was a veil of tears for at least a third of the runtime until the closing credits. What will be discussed here is the fact that certain movies require a particular age. Just as a teenager on the threshold of adulthood has the ideal disposition for Wenders and Tarkovsky, one must grow older and live through something in order to be inclined toward sentimental films that, in one’s youth, would be dismissed out of hand as wringers of emotion. If Cats Disappeared from the World is an adaptation of the book of the same name by film producer Genki Kawamura, who is enormously popular as an author in Japan. The film perfectly makes use of Kawamura's cinephilia and erudition, which it gently transforms into a superb narrative that emanates authenticity that is rarely present in today’s prefabricated and uniform Japanese pop culture. Unlike other contemporary works, the film does not appeal to young audiences. On the contrary, its reference works comprise titles that are known to people of Kawamura’s generation. If Cats Disappeared from the World is not only a great personal declaration of love for love, film, cats and life, but also a tribute to the golden age of Japanese indie cinema, or rather the inspiring period of creative ferment at the turn of the millennium on the global scale, as indicated by the references to the films Hanna and Alice, Fight Club and Happy Together. (26.11.2016)