One of the stars of The Cats of Gokogu Shrine. Photo / Supplied
One of the stars of The Cats of Gokogu Shrine. Photo / Supplied
The Cats of Gokogu Shrine, directed by Kazuhiro Soda, is out now.
Rating out of five: ★★★
The stray cats that are the stars of this mildly charming Japanese documentary aren’t squatters in a Shinto shrine for spiritual reasons. They’ve just found a convenient location – one with sun, shelterand snacks from anglers at the fishing spot across the carpark. The modest shrine’s grounds also offer a rare patch of soft soil among the cramped concrete streets in which to do their business, much to the chagrin of the kindly pensioners who look after the gardens and occasionally act as feline undertakers.
Clearly, there are worse places in the world to be a stray tabby. But director Kazuhiro Soda, a maker of contrivance-free observational documentaries, is as much interested in how the residents of Ushimado interact with those of the cat colony in their midst. For some, the moggies are there to be the pets they can’t fit at home. For others, they’re there to be managed humanely, with regular roundups to get them spayed. For the local community committee, they’re both a nuisance and a possible tourist attraction. That this film might act as an unwitting advertisement for visitors, as well as those wanting to dump unwanted pets, is addressed along the way.
It’s a distant cousin to the 2016 Turkish documentary Kedi, about the beloved strays of Istanbul, and it’s also a pleasant visit to a regional Japanese community and its mostly elderly but sprightly residents. Soda’s unfussy delivery is reminiscent of the offbeat but authentic films of our own Florian Habicht.
Yes, being a cat person is a definite prerequisite for enjoyment but even then, the rambling two hours it takes can make The Cats of Gokogu Shrine feel like a shaggy dog story.
