The Cat Piano

A city of singing cats is preyed upon by a shadowy figure intent on performing a twisted feline symphony.

a short film by The People's Republic of Animation, directed by Eddie White and Ari Gibson. 

The Cat Piano features the voice of iconic Australian artist Nick Cave narrating a poem written by Eddie White. Nick Cave recorded the narration whilst in Melbourne in 2007 while on tour with his band, The Grinderman.

An exceptionally artistic film. A shadowy, animated city, covered with blues and black which features a wide array of personas all revolving around a happening music scene. 
The central character a jazzy beat poet falls in love with a soulful siren all glowing in white. 

The film is styled as Film Noir, and with the narration by Nick Cave it adds a whole new dimension to the already disturbing and eccentric poem. 
Visually it's immensely appealing, I dig the motif of the glowing eyes, and the monochromatic colour palette and similarities to jazz album covers.

Over a period of time, cats all over town are suddenly disappearing - but not just any cats: singer cats are disappearing, cats that would perform on stage in the local jazz and lounge clubs. The poet cat explains, as the town spirals into paranoia and violence, his theory that the singer cats were taken to become part of a twisted "cat piano". 

The actual story line behind the film is ludicrous and even disturbing, but hey, it works. I think applying this sort of artistic intensity is what makes it appealing to noir lovers. 

I think the film is visually amazing, and I think Nick Cave pulls off the heroic beat poet quite well.
This movie, to me, has a Tim Burton feel, and perhaps some German Expressionist elements. It quite reminds me of 'Tell Tale Heart Animation' which I will post below.

Overall its twisted, poetic, elegantly made and twisted. I love it. 

Here is the Tell Tale heart Animation I spoke about. 

The Tell-Tale Heart is a wonderful animated short film of 1953 based on Edgar Allan Poe short-story. The story told by a mad man has a dark visual with a perfect work of narration by James Mason. It is a UPA Production and was the first cartoon to be X-rated (adults only) in Great Britain under the British Board of Film Censors classification system.

amberleee,
xx