Felidae

Felidae (1994) - Germany

Today I'm going to talk about one of my favourite animated movies, Felidae. If you've never heard of it don't feel too bad for it. Felidae is a 2D animated movie from Germany with an 18 age restriction slapped on it. Because of the nature of the story, the film has never been released on DVD in America and its VHS release was heavily edited (read "butchered"). Interested yet?

If you haven't seen the film or heard of it, your first assumption is probably that it's a weird German movie with the high age restriction because it's some pornographic art film that's going to try and draw parallels to some or other human condition in overly complicated dialogue. And you'd be wrong.

The best way to approach Felidae is to think of it as similar to Watership Down if Watership Down was about cats instead of rabbits and involved a murder mystery. Oh, and if the plot of Watership Down revolved more around sex. I'll explain.

Our main character is a tom-cat named Francis who has moved to a new upscale neighbourhood with his owner. Immediately upon arriving he discovers a murdered tom-cat in his new backyard and upon closer inspection, believes it was a murder done by a fellow cat. Being highly intelligent he decides to try and solve the murder of what turns out to be 5 murders happening around the neighbourhood. As he follows the clues and tries to discover the identity of the murderer along with the help of Bluebeard, one of the neighbourhood locals, he discovers all the murder victims were tom-cats who pursuing a female in heat. The more he uncovers the more it becomes apparent that this is by no means the work of a lunatic, but the murders all seem to have a very specific purpose and reason behind them, closely linked with the act of sex.

I love this movie. I really really do. The only reason I even learnt it existed was when my mom rented the VHS one day and, even though I could tell it was heavily edited, I was still intrigued by its genuinely intelligent plot, Francis as the likeable intellectual in way over his head, the strange cult-like environment surrounding the situation and just what happened in this neighbourhood to lead up to the events in the film. And the biggest mystery, who the murderer was and why he was doing what he was doing.

I am always a fan of animated films who aren't afraid to show their teeth without devolving into something purposefully trying to shock and manipulate you with its level of violence or sexual content. Although both are present in the film and the violence extremely graphic, it is a movie made to tell a good story, not a vehicle for the filmmakers to try and create some kind of cinematic art piece to impress or annoy the critics.

The film is by no means perfect. Its pacing can feel like its going at a run through some of it, but when you try and adapt a 253 page book into a movie just over 80 minutes long. It is
possible, but it's going to feel a little fast at some points. Luckily it never reaches the point where it feels hyper-active. There are also a few places where there's some weird editing, especially one scene in particular where the dialogue from once scene literally bleeds over the dialogue in the next scene during the crossfade. There is also another scene where Francis isn't given enough time to adjust from one emotion to the next and so there's a bit of a 'flip-switch' mood change. It also boasts a theme song with some really silly lyrics. Also, I feel the film's last few lines could have been worded slightly better, but that's a minor nitpick.

And yet I can't dislike the film at all. The story it tells is I just find so intriguing and worth following and I love it for using the animated film genre into a more adult frame without needing to animate it in some super stylised manner that makes it impossible to identify with the characters as real 'people'. And I love any film that makes me think when I watch it without getting confusing or too abstract. 

A scene I really love is when Francis discovers the VCR in the basement. There's a lot of subtle emotions going on there without needing to explain to the audience what's going on. The film believes its audience to be as intelligent as it is.

The film has been dubbed in english and despite my dislike for dubs, the english voice acting is actually pretty good. It has been released on DVD but only under the PAL format and the European Region 2. Luckily it's not too hard to find. Several are on both Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com, so if you're interested look it up. I also highly recommend the book of the same name by Akif Pirinçci which has also been translated into english.

Just be warned though, it is exceptionally violent. So if you're the type to get upset at seeing animals get hurt either by other animals or people I don't recommend this film. And never show it to your kids. Ever. I grew up with Watership Down since age 4 and I am still  telling you this is not a film kids should watch.

If you feel you can handle the violence though I strongly urge you to seek it out.