Le 9 vite di Fritz il gatto

Disjointed by design but not great. The series of sketches are are simple, crude, and cynical; not inherently a bad thing but it doesn't really spark interest for the whole length. You kind of understand the film after the first 15 minutes and then it just keeps going not adding much. There are extended sections of nothing really happening. There is a proper 70's counter culture but it doesn't have much substance. Bit to big for it's breeches, constantly playing with big characters and concepts the same way a kid plays with his food. Some nice moments in any case. Generally lacks a voice and is annoying.

Worth playing in the background and being surprised by but not great to focus on as it is numbing.

If you know me at all, you'll know that I was not a fan of Ralph Bakshi's FRITZ THE CAT. So imagine my horror when I found out there was a sequel! Well, I had to be dragged kicking and screaming to see THE NINE LIVES OF FRITZ THE CAT. By some stroke of good luck or divine intervention, it happens to be better than the original.

The film, made without Bakshi's involvement, (who was knee deep in the controversy stemming from COONSKIN) begins by finding our hero in a slum, living on welfare with a wife and child. The wife is pretty abusive (although she does have a point-you'll understand when you see the film. Fritz smokes pot to escape and imagines himself in nine other lives (hence the title)

It's actually a pretty good film. The film is less raunchy and vulgar than the first, but I know some people out there will still be offended. The film is a scathing look at society in the 70's and doesn't have the dated feel the first did. Drugs and street language are present, but it's used much more successfully here

There is one sequence that is some kind of masterpiece. A white military leader and a black militant are perched on two opposing mountains and they take turns attacking one another. Live action footage and stills run in the background. In just five minutes, they've managed to convey exactly what the racial unrest of the 70s was.

There are some flaws. The film doesn't have a very satisfying ending and the score is a little too upbeat for a film laden with such stinging social commentary. But I applaud THE NINE LIVES OF FRITZ THE CAT for taking chances; it could have been more of the same, but instead strives to be better. It's not a perfect film, but it's a good one.

*** out of four stars

I woke up at a strange time and was flipping channels. I found NINE LIVES OF FRITZ THE CAT on the Showtime FAMILY channel. Anyone who reads this, please go to www.sho.com to complain. I'm no prude, but to imagine a 5 year old tuning into this is horrible.

Anyway, I only watched 5 or 10 minutes of this film. The animation is good for it's era, but the comedy & satire is worn and dated. Here's what the first few scenes entailed. A "big mama" cat with huge boobs is yelling at a stoned Fritz cat, telling him he's good for nothing, goes out all night looking for love, and she doesn't know why, 'cause he's bad in bed. Then we flash over to Fritz walking down the street, grabbing his crotch, lets out a fart and offends Juan, the stereotypical Hispanic Cat. Juan won't talk to Fritz because Fritz farted in his area. Fritz makes a lame comment about why doesn't Juan speak English so he can understand him? They talk about Fritz's plight to cash his welfare check. A few seconds later we see some black "thug" cats outside Fritz's house, talking about robbing this house in 'this' (white?) neighborhood. Fritz is sitting on the couch (yes, he's back home now, I guess? Flashback to earlier years?) about to light up a joint, and he's staring at his little sister's kitty butt. He's trying to get her high so he can "get with her." She smokes some, and we get a psychedelic menagerie of images that tries to be creative, but really, someone needs to take some lessons from "The Wall"'s animators. It was a stupid sequence. Flashback to the big mama cat yelling at Fritz again. Now that I read a few other reviews, I suppose the the whole time Fritz is supposed to be listening to big mama yelling at him, but zoning out to these different places while she's yelling.

Anyway, my description of this is probably as funny as the cartoon itself. I didn't waste anymore of my time, I don't recommend you waste your time either.

This film is twisted and dirty. I just wanted to get that off my chest. Now to my review. I was fascinated by the idea of an R rated cartoon, and Fritz the cat seemed the obvious choice. The film begins with Fritz' wife harassing him about the state of his life. To escape the ranting, he lights up a joint and reminiscences how he came to lose many of his lives. The film ultimately shows that Fritz has no chance to improve his life, as every opportunity he gets he sees as another chance to have sex, smoke, cheat the system, and make an idiot of himself. some trippy scenes follow in this dark movie. I would not recommend this to the faint hearted, the violent scenes of murder and assassination are examples, but if you're looking for something different, give it a look.

I think that I went into this film expecting something completely different from what the film actually represented because I was expecting something completely raunchy and funny. While I appreciated the animation, I was left pretty flat by most of the social commentary/satire. There were images and messages that I of course understood (Hitler, Kissinger, etc.) but the majority of the subject matter was fairly relevant to the present time.

Unfortunately, especially during the bizarre psychedelic freak out moments I found myself looking at the clock which is actually kind of sad considering the film was only just over an hour to begin with. Having said that however, I am glad that I finally saw this film so that I know what it was actually about, and I give the filmmakers a lot more credit for having created something that transcended novelty smut.

--Shelly