Rentaneko is showing at the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2012, which is being covered by Samantha Morrison…
Rentaneko, 2012.
Written and Directed by Naoko Ogigami.
Starring Mikako Ichikawa, Reiko Kusamura and Ken Mitsuishi.
SYNOPSIS:
Set in Japan, a woman rents out cats to lonely people.
It’s a fairly bizarre premise, something that I don’t think would fly anywhere but Japan. The film is set up as a series of encounters between Sayoko, our main character, and new customers. Each customer, while having entirely different situations, still echoes the loneliness of the customer before them, and the scenes even repeat lines from previous sections. This repetitive structure builds loneliness upon loneliness, until we can see it reflected in Sayoko herself.
There are recurring scenes in which Sayoko talks to the photo of her late grandmother, and where she draws out her life goals, and hangs them on the wall to remind her. Her first life goal is to ‘be married this year’. While she loves and believes in her cats, it’s through these motifs that we know Sayoko dreams of more human interaction, of conversations that are not always one-sided.
However, the film is not always so sad, far from it. Each customer, and their interactions with the slightly batty Sayoko, brings new hilarity to the fore. My favourite was the man who was worried about his ‘old man smell’, so Sayoko rents him a cat that loves to sit in smelly shoes. Sayoko’s neighbour, a man in drag, is cuttingly funny, and is a hero of the piece despite only having a few minutes of screentime.
With Sayoko’s ‘rent aaaaaaa neko’ chant still ringing in my head, I can safely say this film will stay with you long after you’ve watched it. One of my personal favourites so far.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★
Samantha Morrison
Originally published June 26, 2012. Updated April 11, 2018.
