(Une vie de chat) Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol’s hand-drawn, hand-colored “A Cat In Paris” is a slinky noir of art deco adult animation, and one of the 2012 nominees for Best Animation Academy Award (a roster that notably omitted the toy-centric “Cars 2”). The story’s old-fashioned—cat follows cat burglar along the roofs of Paris, leaving behind young owner Zoe—but illustrated and illuminated with classic panache—plus no 3D within a hundred kilometers. (It’s also the best-looking stylized animation I’ve seen since the underrated “Brave.”) The farce tends to the French and frazzled but its rooftop climax is over the swoon: it’s a dance across the City Of Light-footedness. Music by Serge Besset, Billie Holiday and Mozart. 70m. (Ray Pride)
“A Cat In Paris” plays July 27-August 9 at Siskel; shows in French are 35mm; in English, HDCAM video. Reviewed in French.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s film critic and a contributing editor to Filmmaker magazine.
His multimedia history of Chicago “Ghost Signs” will be published soon. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram as Ghost Signs Chicago. More photography on Instagram.
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