The Cassandra Cat

The Cassandra Cat, 1963
Director: Vojtech Jasný; 91 min, Czech, Color
Actors: Jan Werich, Emília Vásáryová, Vlastimil Brodský, Jirí Sovák

The recipient of the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1963, The Cassandra Cat is a fantastic tale about a cat named Mokol with bizarre powers and the effects that these abilities have on the human beings around her. A circus troupe with a strange cat arrives in a small village. The cat wears sunglasses and when someone takes them off, the animal can color people according to their true natures and moods: red for those in love, purple for the hypocrites, yellow for the unfaithful, and gray for the dishonest. The grown-ups of the village consider the cat to be a dangerous menace but the children adore her. The only adult who is not threatened by Mokol is the romantic teacher played by Vlastimil Brodsky. Imbued with a sense of timelessness not unlike that of Terry Gilliam’s later films and with its exquisite cinematography and supernatural theme, The Cassandra Cat has acquired cult-film status.