By Harlly A Lewis
Cats, directed by Tom Hooper is an adaptation of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1981 stage musical of the same name, which itself was inspired by T.S Eliot’s 1939 poetry collection Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Cats is the story of Victoria (Francesca Haywood), a abandoned cat who gets swept up in the events leading up to the Jellicle Ball, and the all important Jellicle Choice in which a cat is chosen to ascend to the Heaviside layer and receive a different life, all the while a dark force works to be only one left to choose.
Cats is not a musical that I have ever been particularly fond of. The music is bombastic, the lyrics are often confusing and pretentious, and the story is so threadbare that a cursory look dismantles it.
But this is also true regarding much of musical theatre, which is a genre I truly adore. None of the things I have listed above are necessarily bad things, oftentimes they are the entire point of the production.
But Cats is a bit different for me. There was one huge barrier that prevented me from seeking out Cats in the past. It was the visual elements. The leotards, make up and cat like physicality has always creeped me out. The complete unabashed and unashamed nature of the show has always been intimidating in a way that shows like Phantom of the Opera and Wicked are not.
So when I heard that Cats was receiving a film adaptation by Tom Hooper, who had previously directed Les Misérables and The Kings Speech, two films I am a fan of, I thought that his grounded yet grand direction would be what finally breaks through my fear and finally makes the film approachable for me.
After watching the film, I felt weird, not bad weird, or good weird for that matter, just weird. I didn’t, and still don’t hate it as much as the internet does, because the degree of vitriol that this film has received is honestly ridiculous. So WHY did I feel so strange and still do days later?
Voyeurism.
Voyeurism is defined as the act of observing unaware people for one’s own gratification.
The cinematography, mostly the use of hand held cameras, puts you into the position of a hidden watcher, observing the Jellicles at their movements and moments of cultural intimacy, for example, the arrival of Old Deuteronomy (Judi Dench), is a very significant moment for the Jellicles present as she is both the oldest of their kind, and also acts as the one who chooses who will get to ascend. Her arrival says that the choice is imminent and that we will be privy to a happening that only appears in their culture.
The film seems to aim to turn you into a voyeur, or at least an unwilling interloper observing events best left private, like some sort of bizarre anthropologist forced to spy on a hidden subculture and record its rituals and habits for the enjoyment of others.
Like I said, it makes me feel weird.
On that note, the music is actually pretty catchy with songs such as Mr Mistofelees and Magical Gus becoming personal favourites, performed fantastically by Laurie Davidson and the unapparelled Ian McKellen alongside Beautiful Ghosts, a collaboration between Webber and Taylor Swift, who also plays Bombalurina, a henchperson of the evil Macavity (Idris Elba) written specifically for this film, and will hopefully appear in all future productions,.
The show stopping number however is, and always has been Memory, sung by the character Grizabella (Jennifer Hudson), a cat shunned by the others over her history with Macavity. Jennifer Hudson, who plays Grizabella, does what is unmistakably an emotional and heartfelt performance. She cries, she collapses and throughs her whole soul into the large moments of emotion. But this also works to the song’s detriment. There is an old saying that was relayed to me about how to spot good acting. All performance is based around tension, mainly the tension held at the edge of an emotional breakdown, a delicate balancing act where the character is about to cry but holds onto the cusp of letting go. Hudson crosses the emotional peak too early for the songs crescendo. It’s a great performance for sure, but its not meant to feel like a performance.
The production also includes Hooper’s borderline insane insistence to record all the music live on set. This worked for me with Les Misérables , as the story was inherently grounded to begin with making the choice perfectly logical if not a bit silly. For Cats its use is fine, but the songs would have been served being recorded the traditional method.
I suppose that I have skipped around this point for too long. The CGI is creepy. I would have much preferred if they kept to the original costuming as this both places the performers more solidly in the legitimately amazing practical sets that were constructed and completely avoids the off chance that an incomplete SFX cut hits cinemas, or god forbid the premiere.
Which is exactly what happened.
This was the last thing that the movie needed, having been already mercilessly battered by those online that love to hop aboard the hate train. I’m sure that the fixed version for a home release will be less creepy, but that will be futures Harlly’s cross to bear.
Cats is ultimately a musical about, funnily enough, Cats in all their absurdly egotistical and proud nature. It is in no way one of the worst films of all time, maybe just one of the most misguided. The original musical is so inherently niche even within the musical theatre crowd that to make it a big budget studio film was always a gamble. A gamble that seems, at the moment, to not have worked out.
Perhaps on home video it can try for a different life, but only time will tell.
On The Brightside 