Page 60 - Sonoma County Gazette 12-18.indd

CATS
There is a myriad of films/DVDs that feature felines prominently but the inspiration for this article came the recent release, Bohemian Rhapsody, the story of Queen frontman, Freddy Mercury. Freddy loved his cats, wrote songs about them,
dedicated albums to them and when on tour called to chat with them. Another current
The Cards Don’t Lie
feature is Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Melissa McCarthy
By Diane McCurdy
As a gypsy spreads out her cards, her prophecy mentions a battle in a place
delivers an Oscar worthy performance as Lee Israel a down on her luck writer with a drinking problem who decides to fabricate letters that have been written by famous people and sell them to dealers. Her cat is sick and needs to see the vet and she is low on cash.
Newer offerings with cat themes range from the ridiculous to the even more ridiculous! Keanu, a cat who was originally called Iglesias, is the pet of a drug czar. He is captured and his owner leads a merry chase to track him down. An orange cat figures prominently in Inside Llewyn Davis, a Coen brothers depiction of the tribulations of a struggling folk singer. Taken from a best- selling book, Bob the Street Cat is another orange cat, a stray who helped his musician care giver overcome addiction. Nine Lives stars Kevin Spacey as
where the trees grow beards and where the military action is punctuated by the exploits of exceptional women. The young man getting the reading is Andy Jackson, yes, that Andrew Jackson. Sue Ingalls Finan, Windsor author, begins her novel with a prediction and as her story evolves each one of her chapters begins with a Tarot card. The Tarot is that ancient, mystical deck steeped in magic and divination. Each card features an allegorical representation and an aphorism. The cards set the tone for the sections that follow it.
Melissa McCarthy Can You Ever Forgive Me?
These two films are fresh but cats have a long history of having important cameos. Marlon Brando as The Godfather caresses a cat while he orders other men to be killed as does
The setting is the war of
1812, more specifically Andrew
Jackson’s rag tag American
army’s victory over the
British in the Battle of New
Orleans, a very strategic port.
Usually, if not almost always,
wars tell the stories of men.
Because this one is told by a
women, it gives the feminine
point of view which is no less
heroic or horrific. Marguerite
is a pampered, sometimes
capricious , upper class belle
who we meet in childbirth.
She is madly in love with her
husband and desperate to
give him a child. Catherine
is a voodoo priestess of sorts.
She is a midwife and a healer
with a gentle, magnanimous
personality. Sister Angelique is
an Ursuline nun whose convent
provides a makeshift infirmary
for the injured. Millie is a
brave and bold prostitute who
transports the wounded with
considerable danger to herself.
She longs not to be identified
by her profession and to have a normal life with Pete who was “impressed” by the British basically kidnapped and later rescued by the famous pirate, Jean Lafitte. Actual personages who were living at the time are intermingled with imaginary ones making the action very real and, at times, very raw.
This is a historical novel so certain facts are expected but the detail given
is this piece are extraordinary. Curative herbs and potions are identified
and their effects are discussed in detail as are the intricacies of weaponry.
A custom called placage was particularly interesting. It was a sanctioned arrangement where a white creole man would establish a relationship with a woman of mixed blood. She becomes his second wife and he pledges to care for any children that may result from their union. The sixteen years of research put into writing of this book is evident. New Orleans is a city of intrigue and diverse culture even to this day. Having been settled originally by the French it was able to avoid some of the Puritanism of the upper colonies. Sue Ingalls Finan (a relative of author Laura Ingalls Wilder who wrote The Little House on the Prairie) has given us a glimpse of the strong women who function behind the battle lines all the while capturing the essence of a great city: its exotic intrigue, inherent sexuality and patriotic passion.
Stavros Blofeld, the villain in several Bond films. Who can ever forget Anita Eckberg prancing in the Fountain of Trevi holding a white kitten in La Dolce Vita? Jones, the ginger cat, is a survivor along with Ripley on that spaceship from Hell in Aliens.
a stuffy businessman who gets magically transformed into the body of the family cat by Christopher Walken. Kedi is a really wonderful documentary about the semi-feral cats of Istanbul. They roam the city and are cared for but they are respected for their independence.
These are just a few of the latest offerings but Art Carney won an Academy Award for his “road trip with cat” performance in Harry and Tonto
in 1974. The Incredible Journey is the re-enactment of the true story of three animals who travel 250 miles across Canada to re-unite with their family. Then there are the animations: Garfield, The Cat in the Hat, Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots. Look forward to Anne Hathaway who will follow Michelle Pfieffer and Halle Berry as Catwoman.
Unlike dogs, cats do not take direction so most of the time several animals are coached and coaxed to perform only one action. Mysterious and haughty but purring and loving on their own terms, cats were once worshiped as gods and they are not about to let us forget it.
Freddie Mercury and his cats.
60 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 12/18