The Case Of The Grinning Cat 7.5/10
My first Chris Marker film, though I'll certainly get to La Jetee very soon. Despite it's slight run time (55 min.), Marker manages to cram a whole lot of ideas into his documentary (more of a collage/essay, which is his style?). Initially focusing on the drawings of grinning yellow cats that popped up around Paris after 9/11, the film shifts its focus to the political atmosphere of France. I loved the freewheeling style of it all; Marker bounces around, but is always in control, and is always quick with a sly line (especially when pointing out the foolishness of some protesters). One of my favorite bits is when Marker inserts the cat into artwork from various eras.
The cats give way to the Chirac vs. Le Pen election, the Iraq War and anti-Bush sentiment, protests/demonstrations of all stripes (the war, AIDS, Islam, immigration, etc.), and even the World Cup. There was one stylistic touch that seemed fairly pointless - taking a still frame with some audio and shifting it so that the frame is in a different position. Every time this technique is used a Morpheye title card appears on screen and it just got annoying.