Cassandra Cat

 I had never heard of the 1963 Czech film "The Cassandra Cat" - it has a few titles in translation and I don't think the beautifully restored version on Criterion that I watched had the "the." Anyway, it is a Czech New Wave film that is on the surface a wacky movie about a teacher unhappy with his boss, whose hobbies are taxidermying animals and oppressing people, who falls in love with a circus acrobat whose magical cat reveals people's true natures by turning them colors when it looks at them. Already a normal concept! It sounds like a club Stefan would go to. 

But, made while Czechoslovakia was under the thumb of the USSR and pre-Prague Spring, it is also an expression of what it is to be an artist or free thinker in an oppressive regime. And it is never ponderous or dull, always colorful and odd in the best way. This movie would be appropriate for children (if they can handle a stork getting shot in one scene. It's not horrific). They would not appreciate the statement about artistic expression, but they might like the agency given the third-grade teacher's class - they are essentially the heroes of the story, leading protests to protect the magical cat who is hated by those it colorfully reveals to be bad people. I guess the kids in this movie were too young to be part of the Prague student protests, but the spirit is the same. 

A few things reminded me of one of my favorite movies, "Wings of Desire." You can hear whispers of internal monologues throughout (plus, falling in love with a circus acrobat!). I wondered if it was an inspiration for Wim Wenders. He's a filmmaker who appreciates film.

This movie was so wonderful. I loved it. It was beautifully shot and inventive, fun and unusual. There are cats in it. One of my favorite things I have seen lately.

Don't trust the purples.

My cat looks at me like this when he is hungry. I have never changed color.

There's an extensive magic show scene I can't really describe.

Cool magical cats wear glasses sometimes.