Cat Classics on Film: Kedi (2016)

In Istanbul the cat is more than just a cat. The cat embodies the indescribable chaos, the culture, and the uniqueness that is the essence of Istanbul. Without the cat, Istanbul would lose part of its soul.

These are the words that open Kedi, the film about cats in Istanbul that is already a cat classic, although it only came out in the US last year. The film’s concept is simple: follow the daily lives of several street cats in the famous city. Through director Ceyda Torun’s lens, we see the daily comings and goings of several cats while their stories are told by the people who know them.

There’s Sari, the orange-and-white tabby who makes regular rounds of places where she knows she’ll get food, all so she can feed her litter of kittens. There’s the family of cats who hang out at a fish seller’s stall, where they happily eat up scraps of fish. There’s Bengü, another tabby with young kittens. And there are more. Cats, it seems, are everywhere in Istanbul. (We should note that old SoLT visited this wondrous and ancient city quite a few years ago, and she does remember seeing some cats hanging out around cafés and such, but patrons were encouraged NOT to feed them!)

But Kedi is not just about cats (although a movie strictly about cats would be fine with us!). It is also very much a film about the people who care for these cats, who look for a particular cat or two to show up every day for food and maybe some petting. One man feeds some small kittens by hand, another walks a certain route daily, taking food to one group of cats after another. That latter man says the cats give his life purpose; they saved him from what sounds like a serious depression.

That got us to thinking. Just as cats are cats the world over, even with their unique personalities, cat people are cat people the world over (and we’re talking about true cat people here, not just people who happen to have cats). These people are kind and gentle, willing to put themselves out in order to help another living being—a small, furry one. They are the ones who sense the cats’ intelligence, their souls. We like these people a lot. They do not “own” the cats they care for, but still the cats are like friends and family to them.

It might be upsetting to some viewers to see so many cats living on their own on the streets. It was upsetting to us at times. But we are trying hard to understand the culture in Istanbul, the one in which, as one woman in the film said (and we’re paraphrasing), to confine a cat to the indoors is to take something from him, to rob him of his autonomy. Our cultural viewpoint is really different from that, as here in the US, the norm these days is to keep cats inside to protect them from harm. But many places in the world do not share that view.

Our verdict

Our final word on Kedi is simple: If you haven’t seen it yet, you must see it! You will not see much of the more famous bits of the city, but you will get a glimpse into another culture and its cats. You will meet some pretty terrific cats, and we think you’ll be touched by some of the stories. We certainly were.

Very highly recommended!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good movie; two paws is for a great movie. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the movie through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!