IMDb > The Cats of Mirikitani (2006)

The Cats of Mirikitani (2006) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
8.1/10   388 votes
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View company contact information for The Cats of Mirikitani on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
7 September 2007 (Sweden) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Make art not war.
Plot:
Documentary about red-bereted Jimmy Mirikitani, a feisty painter working and living on the street, near the World Trade Center... more | add synopsis
Awards:
15 wins more
User Comments:
Personal documentary of the life and work of New York City artist more (6 total)

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  (Credited cast)

Additional Details

Runtime:
74 min
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18 out of 21 people found the following comment useful.
Personal documentary of the life and work of New York City artist, 12 August 2006
10/10
Author: haknight from United States

When film maker Linda Hattendorf stumbles upon Japanese-American artist Jimmy Mirikitani on the streets of Soho, he is huddled for warmth under the awning of a Deli, drawing charming, stylized, joyful pictures of cats. They get acquainted, and she starts filming. The morning of 9-11 she rescues him from the horror and chaos of the streets, and he comes to live with her. They make the "Odd Couple" look tame, and she continues to unravel the stories of his life from his birth in Sacramento 80 years before, to his growing up in Hiroshima, to his return to the U.S. just before WWII---and just in time to be carted off to one of the "internment camps" for Japanese Americans.

The film follows Jimmy as he reveals more and more of his past, and follows Hattendorf as she helps him put together a life off the streets, and eventually to a reunion of internees at the Tule Lake Camp in California. This is a loving portrait, exquisitely filmed and told in a way that unfolds without pretense. Even when Jimmy draws parallels between his family's tragedy at Hiroshima and the tragedy of American stereotyping and anti-Arab sentiment after 9-11, the film is not heavy-handed or "preachy." It is simply lovely and poignant.

Hattendorf set out to film this interesting character (and wonderful artist---he calls himself a "grand master," and not without reason) and ended up giving him a new existence and helping him tie up many of the "loose ends" of his life---and letting us get to know both of them intimately and without judgment.

This is the simple art of film making and story telling at its best.

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