Description:

Wagahai wa neko de aru - I am a Cat is a satirical novel written in 1905–1906 by Natsume Sōseki, about Japanese society during the Meiji Period.

Kushami (Nakadai) is a teacher given to flights of philosophy as he mulls over life and its meanings, unaware that his gray cat is observing life at home with his own version of a philosopher's eye. For distraction Kushami holds earnest conversations with his cronies about Life and Art, and observes with fascination the affairs of the local cat population.

Kushami's relatives dominate the action as they move in and out of romantic liaisons, characterized by a combination of satire, slapstick, and vulgarity, but the feline aspects are just plain fun. Especially admirable is Blackie, perseverance personified as he dedicates himself to catching and dismembering an outlaw weasel who torments him with fusillades of fetid farts.

Finally, the teacher's own cat addresses us from the soundtrack on the pointlessness of existence, before lapping up a pint of beer and falling drunk into a water barrel. Who'd be a cat? Who'd be a person?

Director: Kon Ichikawa

Stars: Nakadai Tatsuya, Masumi Harukawa and Masumi Harukawa

1975 – JAPANESE with OPTIONAL ENGLISH SUBTITLES – COLOR – 16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN - 88 MINUTES




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