The Cats of Gokogu Shrine, 2024.
Directed by Kazuhiro Soda
SYNOPSIS:
The feline population of a Japanese town and its human inhabitants are the focus of this immersive meditation on community and the cycle of life.
Documentarian Kazuhiro Soda (Inland Sea) attempts to capture a purrrrfect slice of life with his single location observational film The Cats of Gokogu Shrine.
The clues are in the title, as we are introduced to the menagerie of moggies who live atop the shrine, a place of worship dedicated to the spirit of those who died for the nation of Japan. There’s dusty cat, who shakes off a ridiculous amount of debris collected from lazing in the sun; sleepy cat, who needs little explanation; boss cat, who looks like a rotund Saturday morning cartoon come-to-life; Gori-chan, a feline constantly in recovery from the multiple injuries picked up during his day-to-day life; and there’s even a missing cat, whose absence is lamented by a woman who frequently visits to alleviate the stress of day-to-day life.
There is a reverence given to the spirituality of cats in Japan and what they symbolise, but this isn’t necessarily a film about that. In fact, many of the people whose lives are interwoven with that of the cats aren’t too fond of them, with the main narrative being the neutering process to control the population. What Soda’s film is more interested in is promoting a world of co-existence, compromise, and a kind of circle-of-life message.
Said moments include fisherman tossing aside their catch for the gathering cats, who then distribute it to their kittens as they scurry from nooks and crannies to squabble over the food. This is interspersed with interviews such as the 88-year old gardener, who hoicks things up and down the temple’s stairs like he’s a quarter of that age, wistfully describing the passing of his friends. There is no forced narrative, or attempts at Disneyfication when it comes to the cats. The clowder sheltering from a storm is about as dramatic as it gets. There’s an aura of tranquillity that washes over you while watching the quiet world of Gokogu Shrine. It’s almost Malickian.
The documentary does get a little bogged down when it comes to the town-hall meetings, at which the residents of Ushimado discuss how sanitary it is to keep the cats, but the outcome of the discourse always errs on the side of kindness, which is ultimately in keeping with the harmonious, optimistic nature of the film.
The Cats of Gokogu Shrine is a delightful passing-of-time parable played out between fisherman, feline, and fauna, depicting a small near-utopia, which feels so important at a time when such things feel unobtainable.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★ ★
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