When the Cat's Away (1996)
"Chacun cherche son chat" (original title)

Chloe, a young woman, is going on holidays. She entrusts her beloved cat to Madame Renée's care. But one day Madame Renée (an old lady of the neighborhood) can not find the cat. Chloe ... See full summary »

Director:

Cédric Klapisch

Writer:

Cédric Klapisch

Stars:

Garance Clavel, Zinedine Soualem, Renée Le Calm

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Garance Clavel	...	Chloé
Zinedine Soualem	...	Djamel
Renée Le Calm	...	Madame Renée
Olivier Py	...	Michel
Arapimou	...	Gris Gris, le chat
Rambo	...	Rambo, le chat
Simon Abkarian	...	Carlos
Frédéric Aufray	...	Photographer
Olivier Barny	...	Un ouvrier ébéniste
Jane Bradbury	...	Un mannequin
Joël Brisse	...	Le peintre Bel Canto
Olympe Brugeille	...	Madame Brugeille
Franck Bussi	...	Mec aggressif
Marilyne Canto	...	La femme flic
Aline Chantal	...	Madame Doubrowsky

Storyline

Chloe, a young woman, is going on holidays. She entrusts her beloved cat to Madame Renée's care. But one day Madame Renée (an old lady of the neighborhood) can not find the cat. Chloe starts searching the neighborhood... This is the pretext for the exploration of a quarter of Paris and his inhabitants.

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Plot Keywords:

cat | neighborhood | drums | salsa | reference to vincent van gogh | 

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Taglines:

No man. No job. No cat.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for a brief strong sex scene and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures Classics

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

20 June 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

When the Cat's Away

Filming Locations:

Paris 11, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

$300,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$247,804 (USA) (20 June 1997)

Gross:

$1,652,472 (USA) (12 September 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vertigo Productions, France 2 Cinéma, Canal+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Madame Renee: Men have let me down, but animals, never. Never!

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Soundtracks

"Life Saver"
Performed by Guru
(k elam/a. evans - c. bess - k. elam)
editions EMI Music Publishing France S.A.
avec l'aimable autorisation de la Société EMI France
(extrait de "Jazzmatazz Vol.2")

User Reviews

Quite dark for such a light film.

Much preferable to Klapisch's follow-up, the stagebound UN AIR DE FAMILLE, this film still visualises the traumatic labyrinth of its heroine as she tries to escape her diffident personality, her rotten luck with men and the bewildering changes to her beloved Paris. Klapisch isn't above using his cat metaphor scatalogically as well as philosophically, but the detective search for enlightenment gives the plot a badly needed momentum the second film lacks.

Rohmeresque, it's been called, and you can see the point in the reliance on dialogue, young protagonists, irony and colour-coding, if not the elder's overarching critical intelligence. CHACUN achieves an empathy with its heroine the Master might envy.