The Cat in the Bag (Le chat dans le sac)

Review #1240: The Cat in the Bag (Le chat dans le sac)

Cast: 
Barbara Ulrich (Barbara), Claude Godbout (Claude), Manon Blain (Manon J'sais-pas-qui), Véronique Vilbert (Véronique), Jean-Paul Bernier (Jean-Paul), André Leblanc (Toulouse), with Paul Marie Lapointe (Messieurs), Jean-V. Dufresne (Messieurs), and Pierre Maheu (Messieurs) Directed by Gilles Groulx.

Review: 
I knew that at some point I would cover a film from Quebec cinema, particularly to how it relates to Canadian cinema. Quebec experienced their first movie projection in a theater room in 1896, but it took decades before a real cinema industry would occur for the province (a mostly francophone population), especially when the French branch of the National Film Board of Canada was established and became autonomous in 1959, leading to debut of several directors such as Michel Brault and Gilles Groulx. The province went through a period of turmoil in terms of change between society, politics and culture for numerous decades that is generally referred to as a Quiet Revolution. All this relates to the film, one that is a product of Direct Cinema, which grew in the region that serves under the documentary genre with lightweight film equipment along with live sound that wanted to capture reality with truth along with questioning reality's relationship with cinema, which was popularized with Chronique d'un été (1961) by French director and anthropologist Jean Rouch along with sociologist Edgar Morin, with one of the cinematographers of the film being Brault.

To call it just a coming-of-age story of a young man would simplify things a bit too easily - It is a film about a young man who is occupied by a budding relationship with a fellow young lady but questions his identity as a French Canadian living in Montreal that seems to reveal some sort of feeling at heart of a society as unique as Quebec. When asked about filmmaking in 1964, Groulx stated that "A filmmaker is a journalist: he must inform and comment. For me, what counts in a film is the moral, what the author has to say. Mere technique is meaningless. The story, too, is meaningless; it's the pretext for the film; it's like the model for an impressionist painter."

One can see the angst all around through crisp black-and-white photography and music from John Coltrane that serves as a mix of documentary and fiction that proves quite interesting to view through the lens of over five decades and other certain aspects. It definitely wants to challenge the viewer, that can be assumed, and it surely moves itself efficiently in its 74 minute run-time without having to strain itself in overwrought lecturing or strain in trying to cover too many things at once. One highlight involves its final act, with a few scenes spent in a snowy cabin - it surely makes the isolation and contrast stand out really quite starkly when it comes to the path one can take in search of self. It doesn't have too much of an ending, leaving itself to the thought on the viewer about what could occur with the path of the young fellow looking for a place within a society looking to etch its own statement within a nation that can be viewed through two people and their view - a Quebecois who is occupied with intellectual readings and his alienation over contemporary society and an anglophone who is occupied with passion for the theatre that doesn't share such concern. Ulrich and Godbout certainly prove worthy to the task of making this drama click, each playing with such compelling anxiety that makes for a natural fit for the mold required from Brault. It can be easy to relate to one or both of these folks, and the film doesn't find itself stuck pushing hard to get you to like (or accept) who they are, instead it just lets you in for a view or two with a bit of conviction and perhaps a bit of awakening. In the end, it surely is a film for thought that sticks out for its ambition in what it wants to say without choking the viewer out of entertainment or interest. It certainly fits well as a curiosity piece, especially for one wanting a bit of perspective from way back when from Quebec cinema at a key time for growth.

Happy Canada Day, folks. I hope you enjoyed this interesting doubleheader - there were quite a few possibilities leading up before I figured that these two films would prove for quite a fun time and give some perspective while sticking out from the films that usually come through this show - whether from America, Canada or somewhere else. Hopefully there will be some fun films to sit through and cover for the rest of the month.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.