The Rabbi's Cat

Animated movies featuring talking animals are ubiquitous in Hollywood films, but you would be hard-pressed to find a critter as concerned with religion and philosophy as the feline that narrates this French film, which Joann Sfar (the male director of Gainsbourg) adapted—along with co-writer Sandrina Jardel and co-director Antoine Delesvaux—from his own graphic novel. Set in northern Africa in the 1930s, the episodic plot involves a journey that the cat—which begins to speak after swallowing a parrot—takes with his affable rabbi owner and a host of other characters (including a peace-loving Muslim, his donkey, and a couple of Russians) from their hometown of Algiers to Ethiopia to search for the fabled Jerusalem of African Jews. The trip essentially provides the opportunity for a series of discussions about religious differences, with the skeptical cat acting as an eager participant. Although one of these head-to-heads—at an Arab desert camp—ends in violence, the overarching message here is one of tolerance and acceptance. The screenplay also makes room for plenty of digressions (many featuring the rabbi's comely daughter), including a cameo by the popular comics character Tintin. While The Rabbi's Cat boasts some genuinely amusing and insightful moments, it also tends to meander, and while the animation is attractive (with a few surrealistic dream sequences in contrasting styles), it's not enough to compensate for the disjointed narrative. Still, as animated films go, this one offers more spiritual food for thought than most, making it a strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)