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The Cat

1971, Movie, NR, 88 mins

The Cat: Review

The chief reason for watching this otherwise heavy-handed effort from writer-director Pierre Granier-Deferre is to witness the star turns of aging French film veterans Jean Gabin and Simone Signoret. Based on Georges Simenon's psychological novel, the film studies the deteriorating relationship between Gabin and Signoret. Once very much in love, they have grown to hate each other, the evil turn in their romance symbolized by Signoret's killing of Gabin's cat. Gabin leaves Signoret, and though he eventually returns to their decrepit house on the edge of Paris, they stop speaking and do their best to make each other miserable. When Signoret dies, however, Gabin is left to face a loss far greater than that of his cat. Not surprisingly, Gabin and Signoret are superb, their every gesture an essay in contempt. The film was released in the US in 1975. (In French; English subtitles.) leave a comment