Title: Cat People (1982)
Director: Paul Schrader
Cast: Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, John Heard,
Annette O Toole
Review:
Paul Schrader is the mastermind writer behind many great
films, for example, he is a frequent collaborator with Martin Scorsese for whom
he wrote some of the distinguished directors most recognized films like Taxi
Driver (1976) and Raging Bull (1980). Schrader even wrote some of Scorsese’s
less popular films like The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Bringing Out
the Dead (1999), both excellent films in my book. In fact, if you haven’t seen
Bringing Out the Dead, do yourself a favor! He also wrote one of Quentin
Tarantino’s favorite films ever, Rolling Thunder (1977), a film about a soldier
who returns home from war, only to find out he doesn’t like what he finds, home
just isn’t the same. Schrader even wrote one of my favorite films ever, Peter
Weir’s The Mosquito Coast (1986), the film in which Harrison Ford hates America
so much, he decides to create his own society, apart from the rest of the world. In essence, Mr. Schrader is an excellent writer;
I love most of the films he has written. More interesting still, is the fact that
Schrader evolved into a film director, a step that little writers take with
success. How does he fare as a director? Well, let’s see how he did with his
remake of Jacques Tourneur’s classic horror film Cat People (1942).
The thing with this remake is that it divides its audience,
some people seem to really love this movie (I fall into this category) while
others seem to criticize it because of its large quotient of sex and violence,
but here’s what I have to say about it, accusing this film of being too violent
or sexual is like accusing a heavy metal band of being too loud. Sex and
violence go hand in hand with this film, you can’t blame Paul Schrader for
wanting to explore the films erotic, sensual nature in a more graphic manner than
Tourneur’s film, after all, Tourneur’s film was made in 1942, Schrader’s was
made in the 80’s, a decade in which sex and violence dominated the silver
screen. So to all those naysayers that criticize this movie because it’s
sexual, please, grow up! This film was marketed for adults, it is clearly rated
“R”, hell, the films tagline (prominently plastered on the poster) read “An Erotic
fantasy about the animal in all of us” So, if that tagline isn’t enough to let
you know what kind of a film you’ll be watching, then you shouldn’t be watching
this movie. I hate it when people try to
be such puritans! Sex is a part of life, what’s the deal with trying to hide
it?
This divided audience reaction actually kind of exemplifies what
Cat People is all about, sexual awakening, sexual repression and uncontrolled
passions. Cat People is about Irena, a young woman who is trying to hide her
sexual side out of fear. She is a virgin, but according to her, she’s waiting
for just the right guy to take her to paradise. “When it happens, it will be
magical” she says. In reality, she refrains from having sex because she belongs
to a race of beings called The Cat People. You see, once upon a time, cats dominated
earth, and the few humans that existed gave their women in sacrifice to the
cats. But Instead of killing the women, the cats mated with them and so, a race
of cat people was born. These cat people look just like regular humans, but
when they have sex with regular humans, they turn into black panthers. In order
to turn back into humans, they have to kill whoever they just had sex with. So
sex is always a messy thing with these people. Unless, they have sex with their
own brothers and sisters, then everything is okay and they don’t turn into
panthers. So we’re talking about an incestuous race here, which is probably the
real reason this film stroke up a controversy.
But again, it’s not like the film is advocating incest, far
from it. In the film, Irena meets up with her long lost brother, Paul, whom she
has not seen since they were children. Paul has the hots for his own sister
because he wants to satisfy his sexual desires without having to kill anybody.
Unfortunately, Irena doesn’t want to be with her brother, because it’s her
freaking brother! “I am not like you” she tells him, to which he replies “That
is the lie that will kill your lover”, so yeah; it’s a film that explores many
aspects of human sexuality, including the taboo subject of incest. But that’s not
all it explores. Irena falls for a Zoo Keeper named Oliver Yates. She loves
him, but knows she might have to kill him if they end up together. Does she
sleep with him or not? Will she risk turning into a panther and killing him?
The symbolisms for sexual awakening are there, and it all fits perfectly with
the symbolisms of predatory panthers and their prey.
And what better actress to explore sexuality with then the
ultra sexy Nastassja Kinski? Hell, you take the ‘s’ away from Kinsky and you left
with ‘Kinky’! So it all works out. Nastassja had no problems with nudity, she
really goes all out here, and yeah, let me just say that this film has tons of
nudity in it, Annette O’Toole even shows us some skin. I was having this
internal battle, who is hotter? Kinski or O’Toole? Those of you who have seen the movie, please
strike back and let me know what you think! So yeah, lots of skin on this one,
which was a common thing back in the 80’s, watching Cat People reminded me just
how sexually repressed modern American cinema has become. What’s with this
obsession of denying our sexual natures? A healthy sexual life is normal; its
part of what makes us human. Yeah we can keep it under control, but not repress
it. It goes against human nature to do so, because let’s be honest here: We Are
Sexual People! Which is the reason why I celebrate films like Cat People! These
are films that explore the more passionate, sexual side of life that “is in all
of us”. Irena is tempted by good natured sexual attraction to Oliver and the
perverted side, represented by her brother Paul. Which side shall she choose?
Another great aspect of this film is the films color palette,
which augments the films wild passions, lots of oranges and reds permeate the
screen, there’s lots of visual intensity. Aesthetically speaking, the film is a
delight to watch: this thanks in no small part to the group of artists that
Schrader chose to surround himself with in order to make this film look the way
it does. Sometimes it feels as if the film escapes to some sort of surreal
fantasy land filled with black panthers. There’s this one scene that I loved
where Irena walks naked through the forest, connecting with nature, feeling
very much alive. She can see and hear and feel everything that much more acutely,
awesome scene. Cat People started off in the right foot when the first thing I
heard was David Bowie’s “Putting Out the Fire”, one of my favorite Bowie songs.
I had no idea the song was featured so predominantly throughout the whole film!
The tune is sultry, just like the film. Malcolm McDowell turns in an intense
performance as Paul, Irena’s incest thirsty brother. He plays his role with
ferocity, acting like a hungry animal, even his attire is wild! Malcolm
McDowell incurs in some nudity himself, but he’s no stranger to that sort of
thing, after all, this is the guy who played Caligula (1979).
I can’t compare this film to Jacques Tourneur’s original
film because I’ve never seen that version of Cat People, so my review analyzed
the film strictly from watching only Schrader’s version, but from what I gather,
they are not all that similar. In fact, Schrader himself says he regrets having
called it Cat People; that a smarter move would have been to use an alternate
title that would distance it from Tourneur’s classic. Apparently, Schrader’s
film has very little in common with Tourneur’s film, save for the classic pool
scene in which Irena hunts down Alice. Another thing that separates this one from Tourneur's film is the effects work, nothing here is hidden in shadows, or suggested, we see the transformations, the film has some gory fun with that, in this sense it's similar to films like An American Werewolf in London (1981), where we see these graphic transformations take place, though I will say that the transformations in Cat People are not as good as the ones seen in films like An American Werewolf in London or The Howling (1981). This film came to us from a wave of
Universal remakes that came during the 80’s in which Universal Studios attempted to give an update to all their old monsters. So what we have here ladies and gentlemen is a very erotic film
that explores human sexuality, looks fantastic and has two beautiful maidens as
its stars, what’s not to like? So in answer to my initial question, Schrader succeeds
as a director as well as a writer. I only wish he’d written this one himself,
instead this one was written by Alan Ormsby, the guy behind Porky’s II (1983)
and Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things (1973). I guess Schrader wanted to
concentrate fully on the direction, because of this, the films script suffers a
bit. It doesn’t have the strength that many of Schrader’s other works have, it’s
really the only reason I don’t give it a perfect score, otherwise, Cat People
is highly recommended!
Rating: 4 out of 5
8 comments:
Considering I adore the original Cat People, I never had the desire to view this version- due to the reputation you highlighted. However the fact that you stated that even the director states it is not similar and your own review of it- has given me a reason to try and check this out!
Francisco, do you remember that scene where that gorgeous little blond bird showed her tits ?, what a gorgeous little darlin` that bird was, the bird actually appeared in an episode of Police Squad the same year.
Malcolm McDowell is a bloody load of old rubbish.
Francisco, i remember when they put this in a double feature with John Carpenters "The Thing", one of THE greatest double features of all-time ! ! !.
Cal: Glad you wanna check it out, I myself want to check out Tourneur's classic, so expect a review of that classic around here soon. Well, at least after 80's blog a thon is over.
Jervaise: You want to bugger every girl on the planet!
Teddy: Yes, I remember that scene Teddy, and it made me reconsider who was hotter, O' Toole or Kinski...I kind of lean towards O' Toole myself!
Eddie: McDowell's a fine actor man!
Steve Prefontaine: Wow, that is a fine double feature in did! Again, another remake from Universal that worked!
Fantastic review! I haven't thought about this film in ages. I do remember it being very atmospheric and featuring a pretty cool soundtrack.
Schrader's version is very different from the original, which is a classic in its own right, but you're right in pointing out that they both reflect the times in which they were made. The original was made at a time when you couldn't show much and had to imply everything while Schrader's version was done at a time when you could show so much more and he went for it.
I really need to revisit this film as it has been some time and I kinda remember being on the fence about whether I liked it.
It's a strange film, and not one that is going to please everybody, but I guess I'm the kind of person it was made for, I like the weird and the bizarre. The violence and sexuality will certainly rub a lot of people the wrong way.
if only people were all gungho for sexuality displayed in films when two men are involved. this exuberance for sexuality exhibited in all its natural glory only pertains to women showing their bush gardens. other than that, there is no other type of sexuality in movies no matter what the genre.
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