Kedi (2017)
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Kedi Movie Review
Kedi is a 2017 Turkish documentary film directed by Ceyda Torun. It is the best documentary of the year and such a fascinating look at the cats of Istanbul.
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“Communication with a cat is the same as having an alien friend.
You make a contact with a different form of life,
open a portal and start a conversation.
They are weird to us, different,
yet we are capable of making a connection“
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So the film follows the various cats who live on the streets of Istanbul. None of them live in houses or have masters, but most of them have people who care for them, cuddle and feed them. The film is thus a simply fascinating look at Istanbul’s wonderful obsession with these felines and how they also enrich everyone’s lives there.
There are a bunch of memorable sequences here and the highlights include all of the wide shots of the city itself as well as cat fights, cat cuddling and of course their various hunts for food. The film so perfectly and thoroughly explores cats that even I as a dog person loved every second of it. I loved that it was filmed from their point of view and that we got to see their way of living and relationship with humans. Only the history of cats and the city was missing.
Kedi, however, is even more fascinating as a look at humans than as cats. Let me elaborate. The movie showcases cats beautifully, but it also shows how they impact the lives of humans who live with them or care for them. Or live in their vicinity which is the closest depiction of these Istanbul’s relationships.
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Every one of these interviewees has a very personal reason for loving and caring for cats and that was beautiful to witness. They fixed their broken lives by caring for these animals and thus enriched their lives and had a better understanding of the world and the cats made them better people and helped their relationships with humans too.
The film features a variety of excellent interviews, but most importantly a bunch of memorable quotes and beautiful, truthful messages that ring true and are important for everyone to hear. The one which states how people who do not like animals don’t really like humans too is such a great observation. It showcases how having a relationship with an animal is intertwined with having a relationship with a human being and how both enrich people’s lives significantly.
And I also loved the comparison with aliens as having a loving relationship with animals would almost certainly be comparable to that with an alien. We are very different from each other, extremely different even, but we can still manage to find a unique, shared language and communicate together and help each other. I loved that comparison. The film truly has smart, sophisticated speeches and many beautiful quotes.
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Kedi is also beautifully made. It is not all too greatly paced and some scenes are more memorable than others, but the direction from Ceyda Torun is excellent and she has a bright future ahead of her as she made such a terrific first feature here.
But the highlights are the score and the cinematography. The soundtrack is absolutely fantastic as it is the kind of Turkish pop that is universal in its appeal, catchy and quite charming in a way. It accompanied the imagery on screen so well. The film is gorgeously shot and even inventively as it follows the cats from their point of view and that lent a lot of authenticity to the picture. And again those wide shots of the city are amazing.
Wonderfully scored with such a charming soundtrack and inventively filmed with a lot of amazing shots of the city and the felines, Kedi truly is a fascinating look into Istanbul’s relationship with cats which is fueled by a lot of insightful interviews, observational quotes and some beautiful messages as well.
