Le chat du rabbin (2011)

Directed by: Antoine Delesvaux, Joann Sfar | 100 minutes | animation, adventure | Original voice cast: François Morel, Maurice Bénichou, Hafsia Herzi, François Damiens, Mathieu Amalric, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Mohamed Fellag, Sava Lolov, Daniel Cohen, Eric Elmosnino, Alice Houri, Wojciech Pszoniak, Karina Testa

Joann Sfar is a multi-talented. Originally the Frenchman is a cartoonist and one of the most important representatives of the new generation of Franco-Belgian cartoonists. In many of his comics, Sfar incorporates his own Jewish background. Film buffs first know him from ‘Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque)’ from 2010, his unconventional biopic of the legendary French singer and songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, of whom he is a big fan. After that debut, Sfar caught the film bug and decided to combine his two passions – cartoon drawing and film making. The result is the idiosyncratic and refreshing animated film ‘Le chat du rabbin’ (2011), a very personal film based on his own comic book series of the same name.

Although the rabbi of the title is called Sfar, just like the writer, the story is not necessarily autobiographical. Nevertheless, the five-part comic book series has been a way for Sfar to explore his own family history and his father’s Sephardic background. He does this in a playful and colorful way, both in the books and on the silver screen, by viewing the events through the eyes of the rabbi’s (nameless) cat. The story is set in the Algerian capital Algiers in the 1920s. Rabbi Sfar lives in the Kasbah with his daughter Zlabya, his cat and a parrot. The cat follows its owner everywhere it goes. When one day he grazes and eats the parrot, he suddenly turns out to be able to talk! Unsurprisingly, the first thing that comes out of his mouth is a big fat lie – he claims to have no idea who ate the parrot, while no one can ignore the evidence. Plus, he doesn’t make overly flattering comments about faith. To keep his owner and Zlabya ​​happy and to better understand Judaism, he wants to study religion, convert and preferably also do a Bar Mitzvah. But of course that doesn’t just happen.

The cat clearly symbolizes Joann Sfar herself, who views and comments on Jewish traditions from a modern perspective. Despite his sometimes skeptical approach, you can feel that he sincerely tries to understand the faith of his parents and ancestors. Over time, the focus shifts from the Sfar family to a young Russian artist who ended up in Algiers in a very special way. The man is convinced that a mythical Jerusalem exists on the African continent where black Jews live. The cat and the rabbi, along with some other colorful characters, go with him in search of this wonderful city. In dark Africa they run into all kinds of exotic figures, including Tintin, who tries his adventure in Congo. And so ‘Le chat du Rabbin’ turns into a road movie in which various myths and beliefs are examined.

Like ‘Persepolis’ and ‘Peur(s) du noir’ (both from 2007), ‘Le chat du rabbin’ belongs to the new generation of French animation films characterized by daring, originality and innovation, made by filmmakers who dare to be different. and also dare to be vulnerable by making very personal films. Sfar’s film looks great; colorful and warm. It’s amazing how he managed to translate the comics to the screen, without losing the authenticity. ‘Le chat du Rabbin’ is wonderfully unconventional and quirky. An animated film about religion may not immediately appeal to you, but this cross-border French gem takes away all your skepticism within five minutes, partly due to the sympathetic characters and the wonderfully stubborn cat. Joann Sfar is a man to watch closely.