Rent a Cat
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Film description
Sayoko has a gift – she makes friends with cats. She's not that good with people. One day she has a brilliant idea – she will rent the furry vagabonds to those who need their comforting company. Not everyone can be a cat carer, though, so the candidates must go through a special recruitment procedure.
The protagonist herself a bit like a cat – she follows her own paths. She is also a bit lonely, but the director shows this experience without sentimentality. Each character goes through it differently – with despair, peacefully, or defiantly. The film is lined with melancholy, but the energetic, unconventional character, Sayako, takes all patterns and stereotypes apart. Ogigami is known for her attention to detail – the careful frame compositions, and the diligently arranged interiors of the cats' new homes, speak about the characters stronger than words. The film, filled with warm colors, colorful characters, and cat purring, is a nice, yet very intelligent story about an original way of life.
The film was screened at the 9th and 16th editions of Five Flavours.
text:
Jagoda Murczyńska
Naoko Ogigami
Born in 1972 in Chiba Prefecture, Naoko Ogigami is one of the most distinctive directors in contemporary Japanese independent cinema. After studying at Chiba University, she moved to the United States, where she studied filmmaking at the University of Southern California. Her feature debut, “Yoshino's Barber Shop” (2004), received an award at the Berlinale. Her characteristic bittersweet stories combine subtle humour, an unhurried pace and a keen attention to everyday gestures. Ogigami’s protagonists often live on the margins of social conventions, searching for their own rhythm and a sense of connection. She gained international recognition with films such as “Kamome Diner” (2006), “Megane” (2007) and “Rent-a-Cat” (2012). The latter returns to Five Flavours for the third time, as one of the films particularly cherished by the festival audience.
1999 Ayako (short)
2003 Barber Yoshino / Yoshino's Barber Shop
2004 Koi wa go-shichi-go! / Love Is Five, Seven, Five!
2005 Kamome shokudo / Kamome Diner
2007 Okulary / Megane / Glasses
2010 Toiretto / Toilet
2012 Kot do wynajęcia / Rentaneko / Rent-a-Cat
2017 Po nitce do kłębka / Karera Ga Honki De Amu Toki wa / Close-Knit
2021 Kawapperi Mukoritta / Riverside Mukolitta
2024 Maru
