The cat’s no harm – Une vie de chat (2010)

Directed by: Alain Gagnol, Jean-Loup Felicioli | 63 minutes | animation, family | Actors: Dutch voice cast: Maaike Cafmeyer, Rick de Leeuw, Willeke van Ammelrooy, Warre Borgmans, Koen de Graeve, Pieter Embrechts

An animated crime film for children, how on earth are you going to shape that? French filmmakers Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli got it done. As an artistic tandem, they have been working together continuously for over twenty years. They made a creative pact, as it were, in which they became one. This resulted in countless short films that are difficult to pigeonhole. For example, the graphic style of the men is very different from the animation violence that reaches us from the United States or Japan. Under the umbrella of production house Lunanime, Gagnol and Felicioli worked on their first full-length feature, ‘No harm from the cat’ (2010). Well, long. At 65 minutes (and that’s still a long way to go), this animation film is still on the short side. That’s actually a shame, because you would really like to see more of this special animation film.

Central to ‘No harm from the cat’ is – how could it be otherwise – a cat. Dino divides his days between two houses. During the day he lives with Zoé, only daughter of Jeanne, a police commissioner. At night he roams the rooftops of Paris in the company of Nico, an extremely agile burglar. Jeanne walks on the gums. She not only has to arrest the burglar responsible for numerous jewelry thefts, but also ensure the security and surveillance of the Colossus of Nairobi, a huge statue that public enemy number one, Victor Costa has set his sights on. This mobster is also responsible for the death of a police officer, Jeanne’s husband and Zoé’s father, who has been in deep silence since that dramatic incident and has not spoken a word. When Zoé happens to catch Costa and his gang in the act, events accelerate. In a succession of infernal nighttime chases, all the characters constantly cross paths until the early hours, helping or fighting each other, all the way up to the roof of Notre-Dame.

What is immediately noticeable about ‘No harm from the cat’ is the striking visual style that is used. Original and colorful and far from the realism that currently prevails in the animation world, especially in the US. With Gagnol and Felicioli, nothing seems real. In fact, they seem to have drawn their inspiration from abstract artists such as Matisse and Picasso. Here and there a crooked line or a false perspective and you create your very own style. They are like small (modern) paintings. The magical city of Paris provides a stunning backdrop, and Gagnol and Felicioli make good use of the picturesque backdrops (with the nocturnal rooftops and towers of Notre Dame being the most striking examples). Visually, this film is very special, but the story is also not common for an animation film that primarily focuses on children. Gagnol was inspired by the classic American crime films by Martin Scorsese, among others, but also references to ‘White Heat’ (1949), ‘The Night of the Hunter’ (1955) and ‘Reservoir Dogs’ (1992). Just take Victor Costa’s gangster gang, an uncontrolled mess with bizarre pseudonyms. What is very nice is that a moral ‘crime does not pay’ is omitted, so that room is left for one’s own interpretation.

‘No harm from the cat’ is a special animation film, partly due to the beautiful music by Serge Besset, who treats the viewer to a delightful jazzy soundtrack that manages to evoke the necessary suspense. Billie Holiday sings ‘I Wish on the Moon’ and the tone is immediately set. At least for adults, because ‘No harm from the cat’ will especially appeal to them. Gagnol and Felicioli may be targeting a younger audience, but this film is too ‘heavy’ for them (reference to murder, jewel robbery, frustrated adults). With that, the biggest downside to ‘No harm from the cat’ is immediately mentioned, because otherwise this is a small gem, which goes much deeper than the two-dimensional animations that you are presented with. Children really don’t get that deeper layer out. The tip for Gagnol and Felicioli is to make a similar film next time, but link it to the right target group. Then it will definitely be all right!