When the Cat Comes

A small town has a school, a square and a tower. The old watchman Oliva tells the children about his years at sea. One day a circus comes. In the show there is a woman and a cat; the cat wears glasses, and when they come off people change colour: liars turn yellow, those in love red, thieves grey. All at once everyone in the town is seen for what they are. The adults panic and try to get rid of the cat. The children hide it. Vojtěch Jasný directs. Jan Werich takes the lead. It is a Czechoslovak production. The film won the special jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival. The figure the narrative builds is open; the change of colour is hypocrisy made visible and the film does not hide it. It was made in the political climate of Czechoslovakia in the early sixties, and the narrative gives its criticism of authority in the form of a fable. The colour work is its most striking feature; the scenes were tinted by chemical process and each colour carries its own meaning. Children are at the centre and the film shows the adults through their eyes. That the cat is a real animal made shooting difficult and the scenes took a long time to prepare. Who it is for: viewers who like Eastern European cinema and satire in the form of fable. Who it is not for: the narrative is simple, the pace old, and the figure direct.