.png)
I pick up a moody weather, cloudy with a little bit drizzle outside for me to sit and watch the movie. It has been a mentally tiring week, and I am in need of something that could cheer me up. Rent a Cat just did a good job in offering comfort and peace.
The subject of loneliness always hit me hard. I believe not only me but the rest of us who are slowly struggling in building up the adult life. Some feel restless over a repetitive job and daily schedule, some feel hopeless in the midst of doing nothing productive and some feel scared of starting new.
Rent-a-Cat (Rentaneko) is a story of a woman named Sayako who decided to rent her cats to lonely people. You will see her trundling the cats along the Tama River in a bright sunny evening with a small loudspeaker promoting her service. She rent the cat as low as 1000 yen. Her first renter is an old lady whose been living alone and whose son never visited for so long. Before she rented one of her cats she visited the customer's house to make sure that the house is safe, suitable and comfortable for the cats to live. The plot consists of a set of repetitive events and similar dialogues between the renters, with different background story on each customers and insightful messages. It holds the same concept of filling up the 'hole' in their heart. Every customers represent a different representation of a 'hole'. Sayako trying to make them feel less lonely by offering the cat to rent as there is nothing better than a cat to fill up the 'emptiness' in their heart.
Ichikawa brings her utmost performance as Sayako, the quirky cat person. I could pretty much relate to her in so many aspects. I believe all fellow cat person feel the same such as always having snacks in your bag/car just in case if we encounter a few hungry stray cats on the street. The soft spot I have for cats is something I wanna keep for a very long time. Cats comfort me during my tough times, being there waiting for a pat on their head and as claimed as Sayako, they slowly filled up the hole in my heart. As I am writing this, deep down I pray that all my cats will be safe and healthy as years go by.
Out of all the characters being introduced in the film, I could feel close toward the loneliness in Sayako. She might be the loneliest among them, and because of that she wanna help the others.
My favorite scene is when she met the rental car lady. They indirectly talked on social status and the society daily basis need to unfairly grade every little thing in life. Both of them are adorable on screen. Sayako wrapped it up by saying "Foreign cars and premium brand cats are nice, but what matters most is how much a thing is loved by its owner". A nice, clear and neat statement, probably left some space for us to ponder upon. Personally, I do adore some branded items but at the same time I don't mind using a non-branded as long as it is fair in quality. Being judgmental won't make you any superior it kills you inside instead.
Rent-A-Cat (Rentaneko) promotes simplicity at its best whether in their message or in its beautiful traditional Japanese-style house setting. Naoko Ogigami ability in giving attention to details can be seen in Sayako's wardrobe, her clothes are perfectly match and I've read that all are custom design. The moment between Sayako and her customers seems short yet it was nicely crafted in the timeline. The gentle, warm, relaxing pace got me along with the strangeness and pleasant emotions throughout the movie. Ogigami took another route in exploring loneliness in a contemporary society, instead of relating the film with a distress tag, it was entertaining and low-key comedic.
Comments