The Private Life of a Cat (1944)

The Private Life of a Cat (1944)

Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid

22 minutes

[eng]

This is the cutest film I've ever seen. I wanted to share it with you.. just in time for Valentine's Day 

♥

[ita]

Questo è il film più dolce che abbia mai visto. Volevo condividerlo con voi.. giusto in tempo per San Valentino 

 ♥

"Toward the end of their marriage, filmmakers Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid collaborated on the remarkable short THE PRIVATE LIVE OF A CAT. As the film’s furry protagonists, identified only as “She” and “He,” gave birth to a litter of kittens (a process recorded in the film in full though without sound), Deren and Hammid captured their sly, sidelong glances, their cuddles and licks, their resourcefulness and their casual, curious mannerisms. The filmmakers both adored cats and their admiration and affection for the creatures is evident here; their feline subjects occupy nearly every frame of the film, which was shot over the course of four weeks. The filmmakers themselves never appear in this piece; the world they created is inhabited by the animals alone. Here, Deren and Hammid exist only in the objects in their apartment; in the film’s sparse intertitles; in the appearance of the occasional saucer of milk; and in the presence of the camera. “One of the finest films that has ever been made,” said filmmaker Stan Brakhage of PRIVATE LIFE, a work that’s a character study, a work of cinematic anthropology, a narrative, a documentary, part drama and, perhaps above all, a romance."

Livia Bloom (source: fandor.com)