Chris Marker - The Case of The Grinning Cat

[Bobby Beksinski]

I was intrigued to see this film from Chris Marker "The Case of The
Grinning Cat" mostly from pure interest alone on what the symbol of
the cat represented. I had seen this cat too before, not in person
with it drawn out in graffiti on the side of a building but on the
internet and as images associated with certain people on the web. So I
was curious to know what it meant.

Marker's small documentary which does not even reach a full hour felt
extremely long and drawn out, his narration in this one while
interesting in moments did little for the film or towards the mystery
that shrouds the image of the grinning cat. I mostly enjoyed the film
for the pure and raw visuals of Parisian and French culture overall.
And if you ask if I ever found meaning to this intriguing feline
symbol through this film? I would answer a frustrating yes and no.
What cause for a explanation that is given in the film is only based
off of minimal evidence and interpretation, nothing concrete. Marker
seems to be saying and showing that the cat stands for a symbol of
humanity and freedom, a natural icon of unity. And when he ends his
film on the note of whether we will need this cat in the future, he
does not hesitate as he truly believes in this meaning that we will
for certain be in dire need of his presence. 5/10

[Bobby Beksinski]

Also it is suppose to be Chris Marker's memorial month correct? I feel
kind of alone here.

[Thorkell A. Ottarsson]

I´m going to join Bobby. You are not alone :)

I hope more people will join us.

And I have not seen this film.

[Bobby Beksinski]

It's not as bad as I rated it, it is quite interesting. I just think
with some of his films I am not in the right mindset when I watch
them. I hope you do give this one a try and when I said in my review
that I am familiar with the image of the grinning cat with it be
associated with particular people I knew on the internet, it is
actually one of our film club members, I do not know if he is still
active here but it is Srikanth Srinivasan. I would like to know what
he thinks of the cat.

On Dec 12, 2:49 pm, "Thorkell A. Ottarsson" <thork...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Stephen Fuegi]

I didn't think much of CoGC. Visually, the film isn't very interesting, and the narration seems to make more of its subject than is really there.. I am not exactly sure of the meaning of the cat in this film. It is undoubtedly a reference to the The Grin Without a Cat, his doc about '60's and post-'60's radicalism. In the English dialogue of that film, the "grin without a cat" clearly means that radical activists ("the grin") did not have the support of the organized leftist parties ("the cat") that could have perhaps turned their radicalism into something more than momentary protest  (whether the phrase is the same way in French, I do not know; the French title is very different). 

[Jonathan Takagi]

I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. In a way I see this film as almost an inverse of Sans soleil. Whereas Sans soleil is very much a universal, globetrotting work, Case of the Grinning Cat is much more localized. Basically everything is filmed in Paris with minimal intrusion of voiceovers. I see this as partly a function of his age when he made the film, but also as a precursor to his retreat into a different kind of exploration. I think one of the more interesting things about the end of his career was his immersion in Second Life.

I'm not sure that there's too much of a symbolic meaning in the cats. He simply loves cats (and owls) and used his cat Guillaume-en-Egypte (who looks suspiciously like the graffiti in the street) as his own avatar and stand-in throughout his career. They are simply a vehicle to tie the whole piece together, to give some kind of narrative thread to what is otherwise sort of a video diary.

I do admire his optimism and youthful outlook regarding politics and organization. Whereas I couldn't help feeling cynical while viewing the footage (when I first saw the girl in the headscarf I instantly thought of the head scarf ban that would occur, and is indeed included a little later on, and all of the celebration of Le Pen's defeat also seemed hyperbolic) it really seems like he gets a lot of joy out of seeing the youth continue to engage in the political arena. There were also lots of really small details that I really enjoyed (people watching in the metro - something he got more serious about later, recognizing the Space Invaders tag later to be seen in Exit Through the Gift Shop, Sophie Calle in front of the Pompidou).