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The Case of the Grinning Cat

Play trailer Poster for The Case of the Grinning Cat 2004 58m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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94% Tomatometer 18 Reviews 74% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Filmmaker Chris Marker follows the trail of graffiti cats and -- in the process -- documents recent French history.

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The Case of the Grinning Cat

Critics Reviews

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John Monaghan Detroit Free Press [Director] Marker may be windy, but he also enjoys the wisdom that comes with age. His masterful command of the camera shows that he can lecture and entertain at the same time. Rated: 3/4 Apr 5, 2007 Full Review Wesley Morris Boston Globe The Case of the Grinning Cat is further evidence of Chris Marker's exhilarating wit. His hour-long cinema essay offers a snapshot of France that's been realized in Marker's daydreamy developer fluid. Rated: 3.5/4 Jan 20, 2007 Full Review Frank Scheck The Hollywood Reporter Demonstrates that this cinematic provocateur [director Chris Marker] has lost little of his gift for social observation. Jan 3, 2007 Full Review David Walsh World Socialist Web Site The Case of the Grinning Cat will further damage the (overblown) reputation of French filmmaker Chris Marker. Feb 14, 2021 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews A playful 58-minute documentary. Rated: B+ Apr 15, 2008 Full Review Karina Longworth Cinematical Feels like Marker's attempt to implicitly reconcile his own advanced age...one is bound to see history repeat itself in full, ignorant swing, if one lives long enough. Feb 1, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (23) audience reviews
Audience Member Interesting documentary on the atmosphere in Paris around 2001. The filmmaker uses the mysterious drawings of a grinning cat that appear all over the city to talk about several topics. However, this movie would have benefited from some editing to make the transitions between topics a bit smoother. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member In watching this I had to decide what it was a product of... Drugs? Boredom? Insufficient creativity to carry out an interesting idea? My friend and I convened on old age trying to rediscover youth. If you are into political protest, you might really like The Case of the Grinning Cat. I am not, and this must have intimate links with my increasing boredom and listlessness while viewing the footage. I was in Paris for part of the period documented, and the anti-war protest I attended may well have been one of those featured here. But the attempt to connect the (fictional) graffiti cats appearing all over Paris to some overarching historical symbolism didn't move me at all. The Case of the Grinning Cat is undeniably a different movie. The same things that I dislike about it would probably make it a unique pleasure to someone with different tastes. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Pee Euw. An arrogant, meanderingly lost film with bad camerawork and obnoxious voice over. Hardly goes anywhere and accomplishes nothing more than showing how people waste time, which wastes yours. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member The Case of the Grinning Cat is about as haphazardly and half-heartedly interesting as Marker's fleeting interest in and overview of protesting and demonstrations. Though it's a luxury that a documentarian exists who would even bring us the story of a mystery graffiti cat's involvement with anti-war protesting, and though the ending is Marker at his teasingly poignant best, the mystery in the end is all there is. What really makes this DVD worth renting is the extra short called Three Cheers for the Whale, a 16-minute slide-show poem about the history of whale slaughter. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Le Chat is a silent revolution. Utterly brilliant. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member I like Chris Marker, but I just wasn't taken by this film. I actually enjoyed the short films that came on the DVD beside the feature much better. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Case of the Grinning Cat

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Movie Info

Synopsis Filmmaker Chris Marker follows the trail of graffiti cats and -- in the process -- documents recent French history.
Director
Chris Marker
Screenwriter
Chris Marker
Production Co
Arte France Cinema
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
Canadian French
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Jul 21, 2006
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 25, 2017
Runtime
58m
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