Product Details

• Actors: Garance Clavel, Zinedine Soualem, Renée Le Calm, Olivier Py, Arapimou
• Directors: Cédric Klapisch
• Writers: Cédric Klapisch
• Producers: Aïssa Djabri, Farid Lahouassa, Manuel Munz
• Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Language: French
• Subtitles: English
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home E
• VHS Release Date: June 30, 1998
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0800182588
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #182,300 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Written and directed by Cédric Klapisch, this delightful French film from 1997 is less interested in its plot--about a young Parisian woman named Chloé (Garance Clabel) who is searching for her lost cat--than it is in her response to the sudden predicament of being truly alone. Chloe's life is hardly thrilling, and romance has proven elusive, so when her cat disappears while she's away on a brief vacation, it's a minor crisis that reminds Chloé of just how lonely she is, and her exhaustive search for the cat begins. She recruits her neighbors and a network of women who know every cat in the district where she lives. But When the Cat's Away is really about the rhythms of Chloé's daily life, the lives of the people around her, and the changing identity of the neighborhood as it undergoes renovation. Like the films of Eric Rohmer, this film is filled with casual observation and quiet revelations of character. It hardly seems like a film at all, but rather a privileged glimpse into the lives of very real people whom we come to know and admire, and in whom we recognize parts of ourselves. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Feel-good Film You Won't Hate, July 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: When the Cat's Away [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"When the Cat's Away," along with Eric Rohmer's "Summer," is one of the best movies about urban loneliness I've ever seen. As a resident of a Los Angeles apartment building in which I barely know people who live mere yards away, I can attest to the peculiar and ironic sense of alienation the heroine feels in her very crowded neighborhood. The director also nails a certain kind of funk that can happen in your late 20s, when bars and clubs are becoming boring, and the novelty of finally living on one's own has worn off. The movie makes a good case for simply getting out of your apartment and getting to know the people whom you have always just said a quick, impersonal "hello" to. The lead actress, who I've never seen before in a movie, is utterly charming and it's hard not to have a huge crush on her by the end of the film. The final shot of "When the Cat's Away," featuring perhaps the best use of a moving camera I've ever seen, is sublime. This film is another example of the saying that Americans make movies about how they wish people were, while the French make movies about the way people ARE.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So true, June 25, 2001

By 

Gisele Toueg (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When the Cat's Away [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I first saw this movie when I was living in Paris as an exchange student and couldn't stop laughing. My apartment was down the street from the bar where they all hung out, and this movie couldn't be a more accurate portrayal of life in the Bastille. From the Pause cafe, to the clubs on Rue de Lappe where getting hit on is a way of life, to the old lady whom I've actually seen in athe neighborhood a few times, Cedric Klapisch just gets it right. Not only that, but here is this really pretty, seemingly perfect French girl and you find out she's still lonely. Yay! If you are obsessed with real French culture, and not just the books and the romance of the Seine, rent this movie.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hauntingly Beautiful, December 14, 1999

By 

Meghan (Los Angeles

Redwood City, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When the Cat's Away [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The haunting beauty of the crumbling 11th arrondissement of Paris is the perfect setting for this tale of loneliness. The washed out colors of the cinematography and serene beauty of Garance Clavel create a subtle water color painting of subdued longing and inner tragedy. I've never seen such a gentle film that had such compassion for its subjects. Perfect for a rainy afternoon full of the angst of a Portishead tune.