The Rabbi's Cat | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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Directed by | Joann Sfar Antoine Delesvaux |
Produced by | Clément Oubrerie Antoine Delesvaux Joann Sfar |
Screenplay by | Joann Sfar Sandrina Jardel |
Based on | The Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar |
Starring | François Morel Hafsia Herzi Maurice Bénichou Fellag François Damiens Jean-Pierre Kalfon |
Music by | Olivier Daviaud |
Editing by | Maryline Monthieux |
Studio | Autochenille Production |
Distributed by | UGC Distribution |
Release date(s) | 1 June 2011 |
Running time | 100 minutes |
Country | France |
Language | French |
Budget | € 12.5 million |
The Rabbi's Cat (French: Le Chat du rabbin) is a 2011 French animated film directed by Joann Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux, based on volume one, two and five of Sfar's comics series with the same title. It tells the story of a cat which obtains the ability to speak after swallowing a parrot, and its owner who is a rabbi in 1920s Algeria.[1] The voice cast includes François Morel, Hafsia Herzi, Maurice Bénichou, Fellag, François Damiens and Jean-Pierre Kalfon.
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Autochenille Production was launched in 2007 by Joann Sfar, Antoine Delesvaux and Clément Oubrerie with the aim to make "author-driven, challenging films to appeal to children and adults."[2] The Rabbi's Cat was the company's first project. The production was made in collaboration with TF1 and France 3. It was pre-bought by Canal+ and CineCinéma and had a budget of 12.5 million euro. It is the second film directed by Sfar, after Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque).[2]
One of the directors' sources of inspiration was American animation from the 1930s, and in particular from the Fleischer Studios, which Sfar described as characterised by multi-ethnical production crews and for portraying also dark aspects of society, in cartoons such as Betty Boop and Popeye. In order to generate more personality for the drawn characters in The Rabbi's Cat, some of the scenes were staged in a Parisian suburb loft in the summer of 2008, with props and the cast fully costumed. As the actors performed and invented their characters' personal motion habits, the design team observed closely and drew what they picked up.[3]
The original soundtrack was composed by Olivier Daviaud, who also had composed the music for Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque), and was performed by Enrico Macias and the Amsterdam Klezmer Band.[4]
The film was released in France on 1 June 2011 through UGC Distribution, which launched it in 243 prints.[5] It competed at the 2011 Annecy International Animated Film Festival, where it won the top award, the Annecy Crystal for best feature.[6]
Pierre Vavasseur of Le Parisien gave the film the top rating of three stars and compared the impression it left to that of Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Vavasseur called The Rabbi's Cat "a pure pleasure" and complimented it for its variation and colourfulness, as well as for how it tackles the subject of a divided society: "Offsprings of Voltaire, Sfar and his cat don't stroke anyone with the hair, but throw as chefs together a broth of cultures with multiple flavours and with nurtured scenery."[7] Jacques Mandelbaum wrote a negative review in Le Monde, where he among other things criticised the film for having dull gags, lifeless voice acting and a dragging pace: "This general disconcertment is due to the lack of determination in the point of view, which evidently wants to take in everything and fails to grasp the bad. Between Chagall and Tintin, family chronicle and adventure film, biblical legend and colonial chronicle, historical reconstruction and winks to the contemporary world, the references are superimposed without achieving harmony. In the end, this plea for tolerance is a moral preaching so annoyingly gentle that it struggles to convince us of its legitimacy."[8] Jordan Mintzer wrote in The Hollywood Reporter: "Though this gorgeously animated affair showcases the artist's freewheeling style and colorful arabesque imagery, its rambling episodic structure is not quite the cat's meow, even if it remains a thoroughly enjoyable take on Judaism in early 20th century North Africa. ... While the end result is somewhat chaotic, it proves that Sfar can make the jump from page to screen in ways that are both compelling and personal."[9]