The Rabbi's Cat | |
---|---|
French | Le chat du rabbin |
Directed by | Joann Sfar Antoine Delesvaux |
Screenplay by | Joann Sfar Sandrina Jardel |
Based on | The Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar |
Produced by | Clément Oubrerie Antoine Delesvaux Joann Sfar |
Starring | François Morel Hafsia Herzi Maurice Bénichou Fellag François Damiens Jean-Pierre Kalfon |
Edited by | Maryline Monthieux |
Music by | Olivier Daviaud |
Production company | Autochenille Production |
Distributed by | UGC Distribution |
Release date |
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Running time | 80 minutes |
Country | France |
Language | French |
Budget | €12.5 million [1] |
Box office | $4.2 million [1] |
The Rabbi's Cat (French : Le chat du rabbin) is a 2011 French animated film directed by Joann Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux, [2] based on volumes one, two and five of Sfar's comics series with the same title. It tells the story of a cat, who obtains the ability to speak after swallowing a parrot, and its owner who is a rabbi in 1920s Algeria. [3] The voice cast includes François Morel, Hafsia Herzi, Maurice Bénichou, Fellag, François Damiens and Jean-Pierre Kalfon.
The story takes place in the Jewish community of Algeria during the 1920s. One day a rabbi finds that his talking parrot, who is very noisy, has been eaten by his cat and that the cat has gained the ability to speak in human tongues. However, the rabbi finds that the cat is very rude and arrogant, so the rabbi teaches him about the Torah, with the cat deciding that — if he is Jewish — then he should receive a bar mitzvah, leading the two to consult with the rabbi's rabbi. The cat proceeds to mock and insult the rabbi's strict views, who declares that the cat should be killed for its heresy. The rabbi takes his cat and leaves, mad at the cat for making a fool of his master. The two eventually reach an agreement where the rabbi will teach the cat all about the Torah and that he might have his bar mitzvah when he is ready.
The cat helps the rabbi pass a French language exam so that he might one day become head rabbi, but after the exam the cat loses his ability to speak (as he invoked the name of God to pray for his master). After the discovery of a Russian Jew who has stowed away in a shipment of religious texts, the cat learns he can speak Russian. He eventually regains his ability to speak French, finding he knows many languages and can act as a translator. The Russian reveals that he is a painter who has fled from Soviet Russia. He has come to Africa to search for a hidden city of black Jews deep in the heart of Africa, and convinces the rabbi, his cat, and a former Russian soldier to help him in his search.
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." [4] 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) . [4]
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-ethnic production crews and for portraying dark aspects of society, in cartoons such as Betty Boop and Popeye . 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. [5]
The original soundtrack was composed by Olivier Daviaud, who had composed the music for Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque), and was performed by Enrico Macias and the Amsterdam Klezmer Band. [6]
The film was released in France on 1 June 2011 through UGC Distribution, which launched it in 243 prints. [7] It competed at the 2011 Annecy International Animated Film Festival, where it won the top award: the Annecy Crystal for best feature. [8]
The Rabbi's Cat received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a rating of 94% based on 16 reviews and an average rating of 7.6/10. [9] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 74 out of 100 based on nine reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [10]
Pierre Vavasseur of Le Parisien gave a 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." [11]
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 The Adventures of 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." [12] 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." [13]
On 24 February 2012, The Rabbi's Cat (Le Chat du rabbin) was named Best Animated Film at the César Awards. [14]
On 3 December 2012, it was announced that the film received two nominations at the 40th Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature. [15]
It won the Prix Jacques Prévert du Scénario for Best Adaptation in 2012.
Ladislas Starevich was a Polish-Russian stop-motion animator notable as the author of the first puppet-animated film The Beautiful Leukanida (1912). He also used dead insects and other animals as protagonists of his films. Following the Russian Revolution, Starevich settled in France.
Joann Sfar is a French comics artist, comic book creator, novelist, and film director.
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This Prize Awarded by the Audience - Cultura is awarded to comics authors at the Angoulême International Comics Festival since 1989.
The Prix de la critique is a prize awarded by the Association des Critiques et des journalistes de Bande Dessinée to the best comic album released for a year in France. Previously, from 1984 to 2003, it was called Prix Bloody Mary and awarded at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. Concerned at first with albums of the Franco-Belgian comics school it was eventually interested in works coming from the comic book tradition of more distant lands.
Pierre-François "David" Beauchard, also known by the pen name David B., is a French comic book artist and writer, and one of the founders of L'Association.
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Mohamed Fellag is an Algerian comedian, writer, humorist, and actor. In 1958, at the height of the Algerian war of independence, his father took him and his younger brother, for their safety, to stay with an aunt in Beni-Messous where they went to primary school. He did his secondary studies in Tizi-Ouzou He entered the School of Dramatic Arts of Algiers in 1968 and stayed there for four years performing in several theatres throughout Algeria.
Hafsia Herzi is a French actress, screenwriter, and director. She is best known for her debut role in the award-winning Franco-Tunisian feature The Secret of the Grain for which she won the award for most promising actress at the César Awards 2008, and the Marcello Mastroianni award, for best emerging actor/actress at the 64th Venice International Film Festival.
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The Rabbi's Cat is a series of comic fantasy comic books created by Joann Sfar. It was originally published in France by Dargaud as a series of graphic albums. English translations of the first five stories have been released by Pantheon Books. Some volumes were also translated into Spanish, Croatian, Russian, Polish, Dutch, and German.
The Rabbi's Cat may refer to:
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un pur plaisir"; "Fils de Voltaire, Sfar et son chat ne caressent personne dans le sens du poil, mais touillent comme des chefs un bouillon de cultures aux multiples arômes et aux paysages soignés.
Cet embarras général s'explique par le manque de détermination dans le point de vue, qui veut manifestement trop embrasser et ne parvient qu'à mal étreindre. Entre Chagall et Tintin, chronique familiale et film d'aventures, légende biblique et chronique coloniale, reconstitution historique et clins d'oeil au monde contemporain, les références se superposent sans parvenir à une harmonie. In fine, ce plaidoyer pour la tolérance relève d'un prêchi-prêcha si gentiment ennuyeux qu'il peine à nous convaincre de sa légitimité.