I had the opportunity to see "Mad Cats" at the Brussels International Film Festival in April 2023.
I won't try to describe the plot: let's just say it's a road movie with a lot of action sequences involving female cats who look a lot like humans .
If you don't pay attention, you may be tempted to dismiss this movie as an inconsistent absurdist Japanese action comedy about felines made by amateurish would-be moviemakers. How wrong you would be then !
This is one of these rare gems where you laugh out loud, and at the same time you have to admire the visuals (at the same time absurd and incredibly beautiful), the pacing, the fact that it works both at face value and as an allegory.
Even if they have almost nothing in common, I would say this movie plays with the same kind of absurd themes and visuals as Kurosawa Kiyoshi...
It's about 90 minutes of pure cinema made by authors free enough to try, sometimes miss, but often achieve to show things that have not been shown before, in a deeply original way.
It works as an action movie, works as a road movie, works as a terrific comedy but.mostly transcends the genres. Just cinematic pleasure.
I don't know whether, after it finishes its festival run, it will be possible to watch this gem anywhere. But if you have the chance, don't miss it.
I hope this team keeps making movies. Low budget Japanese genre cinema is often a treasure trove.
