Ramon Zurcher's The Strange Little Cat, from 2013, pictures an extended German family gathering and preparing for a dinner. Pictures is the operative word because the film is virtually devoid of plot, drama or intrigue. Yet, within theses narrow confines and its scant 72 minutes, Zurcher conjures the god of small things and the many tiny pockets of drama and comedy that fill our daily lives.
Domestic portraiture is the meat of this movie. The human performers are pictured watching more often than talking. Figures are often facing away from the camera. A dog, cat, and a moth vie for space in the frame. The spaces displayed in the film are territories that are vied for amidst petty domestic conflicts with the more junior humans being the primary passive aggressors. Zurcher, however, also finds beauty in the space of a corridor or still life shots of oranges, glasses of milk, and a washer.
Three flashbacks illustrate moments of vulnerability shared with family. The Strange Little Cat is a singular film that is exquisitely crafted. The ensemble work is warmly familial. The film verges on the soporific, but I found its picturing of the universe in a few grains of sand to be bracing.
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