Kater (German) [Tomcat]

I still have mixed feelings after watching this film. At the onset, I wanna say that movie was terrible , uni-dimensional and doesn’t get into the details or provides any solutions; but on the other hand, part of me tells that, the relationship between a couple is shown in the most brilliant way, almost voyeuristically. Yes, the film is slow, repetitive, but after an anxious half an hour of not knowing where this film is headed to, it ultimately grabbed my attention when the unfortunate event happens.

Stefan (French horn player) and Andreas (orchestra manager) have the perfect life. They have a great house, beautiful luscious garden, close friends and a charismatic cat named Moses. The couple are so comfortable with each other and nature that a good amount of their time goes walking around naked. They are very comfortable, have sex quite often and sometimes before their friend Lorenz. One day when Stefan strokes Moses, the cat seems to try to bite him, and through some unknown compulsion, Stefan breaks its neck. And this one event changes their entire life. Stefan is in shock and mourning at what he did but Andreas cannot comprehend the fact that their beloved cat was killed by his lover. Unable to understand what’s going on, Andreas completely silos Stefan. The two guys who were always always together are now separate and barely talking to each other. Conversations start but clearly there is a gap. One morning Stefan falls from a tree while picking plums and ends up losing an eye. The accident brings the compassion back to an extent, but Andreas still cannot get himself physically close to Stefan. He tells him that he cannot have sex with him or kiss him, not now and possibly never. We see their dynamics change, step by step towards better but still a huge gap. Things improve a little when they need to take care of their neighbors cat, but that also brings constant fear in Andreas’ mind. The couple will deal with the situation at their own pace and none of this is gonna take a lot of effort if the two wanna be back together like before.

The first big question is that did this movie need to be so long? Obviously not. I could have easily cut short this film by good 30-40 minutes and still felt the impact. The long drawn scenes of the cat in the first 20 minutes is delight but I started to feel if I am watching a film about cats. All the scenes about music practice, friendly banter etc could have easily been trimmed out. There are a ton of scenes involving nudity, sex and yes, even hard-on but in retrospect, besides the cat scenes, all that was necessary to establish the kind of relationship that the couple share. You could feel the love, passion and compassion they shared for each other. And then post the incident, how everything changes. It was very very real. But one thing that I found odd was why was there no discussion around the subject. The motivation or the reason (impulse) is never discussed. Yes, Andreas makes Stefan go see a psychiatrist but what comes out of that is not shown. But yet, I felt the pain but both the individuals were going through and trying to come to terms with it. Rebuilding trust with anyone is never easy and we all know that. This film just shows how shit sometimes get real. The film is an example of art observing the intimacy of human emotions, communication and interpersonal relationships. And as I said before, you feel like a voyeur in their lives for first 30 minutes and feel like nothing is happening, but by the end, you know it was all important to create the setup. The acting by the leads is consistently brilliant and flawless. The happy moments, the pathos , the confusion, everything is readable in their eyes.

Watch this film with a very open mind. Most of you will not like it. Something like what happened with one of my fav films ‘August’ but I think this was a brilliant portrayal of human emotions and connections. (7.5/10)