Director: Vojtech Jasný
Screenplay: Jirí Brdecka, Vojtech Jasný, Jan Werich
Starring: Jan Werich, Emília Vásáryová, Vlastimil Brodský, Jirí Sovák, Vladimír Mensík, Jirina Bohdalová
Country: Czechoslovakia
Running Time: 105 min
Year: 1963
BBFC Certificate: PG

I reviewed Second Run’s pairing of two of Czech director Vojtech Jasný’s films, Desire and All My Good Countrymen, last year and was greatly impressed. They’re now being joined in the label’s Blu-ray collection by a film Jasný made somewhere in between the two, The Cassandra Cat (a.k.a. Az Prijde Kocour or When the Cat Comes).

Released in 1963, Jasný reportedly conceived The Cassandra Cat as part of a ‘socio-critical trilogy’ with the other titles. He’d written an early draft of the script back in 1957, but it was set aside for a good while whilst he worked on other projects.

The film shared the Grand Prix prize at Cannes with Masaki Kobayashi’s Harakiri in the year of its release, as well as winning the CST Technical Grand Prize. Back home, Jasný was called in front of the secret police though and asked to supply information about some of his filmmaker friends. Thankfully, the director had sway with President Novotny, so rang him directly and threatened to commit suicide. Novotny had Jasný released, stating “leave this Lasny boy alone – he is an astrologer and a lunatic, but he is a poet. Let him make films.”

The Cassandra Cat proved to be popular in Czechoslovakia too, with over 1,300,000 viewers catching it in theatres at the time. However, as with many of the other New Wave classics, it was pulled from circulation following the Soviet invasion of 1968, due to its clear anti-authoritarian message.

The film is a magical fairy-tale-like story set around an unnamed village or town. It begins by following a feud between a schoolteacher, Robert (Vlastimil Brodský), and a headteacher/mayor, Karel (Jirí Sovák). On top of them squabbling over whether or not the latter should have shot a rare stork to have it stuffed for the local museum, the pair disagree on teaching methodologies. Robert believes in the power of stimulating his students’ imaginations, whilst Karel prefers more ‘traditional’ methods.

Whilst Robert’s class is tasked with painting local castellan Oliva (Jan Werich, who also narrates to the camera in places), the jolly gent regales them with a story of a bespectacled magical cat that came to a town and, once it removed its glasses, had the ability to change people into colours that represented their true natures. The townsfolk weren’t happy about this and killed the cat, leaving Oliva with only the leftover glasses and the memory of loving the cat’s keeper, Diana.

Lo and behold, soon after Oliva tells this tale, a circus troupe arrives in town, bringing along with it a still-youthful Diana (Emília Vásáryová), a magician that looks remarkably similar to Oliva (played by the same actor, of course) and a cat wearing sunglasses.

When the whole community gathers to watch the magician’s show, the cat’s powers are unveiled, with its uncovered eyes uncovering the truth behind many of the townsfolk’s facades. This causes something of a riot and the cat escapes the chaos.

A group of men who had been ridiculed in the show, including Karel and his lackey (Vladimír Mensík), plot to catch the cat and kill it. However, the school children, after hearing the story, expect the adults to do this, so track down the feline before them.

When they’re tricked into giving the cat up, however, the children revolt.

The Cassandra Cat has, perhaps, quite a thin plot, but this leaves room to have fun with the characters and thinly veiled anti-authoritarian concepts, as well as to take a more poetic approach to the material. The latter comes forth in the sequences when the cat performs its magic. Not only is there a striking use of colour when numerous people are changed depending on their nature (i.e. red for lovers, yellow for the unfaithful, purple for liars and cheats, and grey for thieves) but the cat seems to force them to perform dance-like mimes that fit their unveiled characteristics.

I was a little torn on these sequences. They do look stunning. The bold colour change effects were done purely with lighting, costume and makeup. No post-production trickery was incorporated, making it all the more impressive. However, I’m not a huge fan of the ‘interpretive dance’ approach and it’s used quite a lot. It’s a personal preference issue rather than a fault in the filmmaking though and I did appreciate the riotous dynamism of the sequences.

The film, generally, looks fantastic too. On top of the colourful fantasy sequences, Jasný and his cinematographer Jaroslav Kucera use some playful techniques, make wonderful use of locations and assemble an absolutely stunning black light theatre sequence that blends traditional techniques with a little cinematic trickery.

Away from the magical cat elements and stylistic flourishes, the film provides a clear call to stand up against authoritarian rule. On top of the Karel character, with his restrictive beliefs and treacherous ways, you’ve got the fact that the people are frightened of their secrets being revealed (though the cat’s abilities seem to make a positive difference in the end, so this latter reading may be a misinterpretation).

There’s hope in the film though, with the next generation, the children of the town, being more honest, pure and brave than their adult counterparts. In an early scene, perfectly realised through some remarkable visual effects, the youngsters are asked to draw or write about things they like, dislike or want to change in their town. As they think and stare at their notepads, black-and-white films play out on the blank sheets of paper in front of them, largely displaying the shameful actions of the children’s parents. They don’t need a magic cat to show the faults of their elders but, when one does arrive, they take great pleasure in being able to unmask the disappointing generations before them and see the cat’s value in improving matters.

There are also some wonderful performances to enjoy, particularly the ‘bootlicker’ character Vladimír Mensík and the narrator/magician, Jan Werich, who both steal every scene they appear in. All of the performances have particularly strong physical aspects too, not only due to the dance-like sequences but, in general, the characters’ physicalities are well drawn, without veering into overplayed theatrical styles.

Werich was reportedly hard to get on the project, initially. He was a famous and influential face from the past in theatre and on film but hadn’t had a starring role for a while, due to his anti-communist views. In fact, it was difficult for Jasný to secure a meeting with him, due to the director still being a party member back then. Thankfully, Jasný convinced Werich to get on board, likely winning him over with the dual role sweetener. He’s a joy to watch in the film and supposedly ad-libbed a large amount of his material.

Overall then, The Cassandra Cat is a delightfully charming satirical fantasy. A feast of colour, movement and imagination, it still finds time to poke holes in the facade of socialist Czechoslovakia. The theatrical, dance-like approach might not appeal to everyone but it’s such a stylish and quirky treat, it’s hard not to fall for its charms.

The Cassandra Cat is out on 20th February on Blu-ray, released by Second Run. Details are strong, for the most part, and damage is minimal. There’s a slightly unnatural look, particularly in the colours, but this is likely due to the process originally used. The audio is strong too.

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

– The Cassandra Cat (Až prijde kocour, 1963) presented from a new 4K restoration by the Czech National Film Archive.
– A Projection Booth audio commentary with Mike White, Spencer Parsons and Chris Stachiw.
– Badly Painted Hen (Spatne namalovana slepice, 1963): the acclaimed animated short film by Jiri Brdecka, co-writer of The Cassandra Cat.
– Trailer.
– Booklet featuring a new, expansive essay by author Cerise Howard.
– Original soundtrack in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio.
– New and improved English subtitle translation.
– World premiere on Blu-ray.
– Region Free (A/B/C) Blu-ray.

The Projection Booth Podcast offers another insightful and engaging commentary. I found one of the contributors a little grating, partly due to his voice (sorry, just being honest, though I wouldn’t want to say who) but also due to his opinions seeming slightly less informed than the others and out of track with mine. The rest of the team make up for it though and, overall, it’s another strong track.

The Badly Painted Hen is a wonderful addition to the set. This delightful animated short fits nicely alongside The Cassandra Cat, with its satirical edge and magical flourishes, as well as the classroom setting.

The booklet is the star of the show though. Cerise Howard’s essay blends key background information on the cast and crew with a detailed breakdown and analysis of the film. My review would be pretty threadbare without it. I also appreciated how Howard made the point that The Cassandra Cat shares similarities with John Carpenter’s They Live, something I hadn’t thought about earlier.

It may not hold a great deal of extra material, but Second Run’s release is still very well supplemented and the film itself is of great value, so it’s an easy recommendation.

Disc/Package:

The Cassandra Cat - Second Run
Film
Disc/package
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Reader Rating: (1 Vote)

One Response

  1. Joseph

    Dear sir: very informative, and very appreciated! Also, enjoyed your honesty. Hats off to you.

    Reply

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