David O'ConnellMIFF 2011: Old Cats
July 25th 2011 04:23
Chilean writing and directing duo, Pedro Peirano and Sebastian Silva, have successfully followed up The Maid (2009) - which screened at MIFF a couple of years ago, with compelling chamber drama Old Cats. In a Santiago high rise apartment an old couple, Isadora (Belgica Castro) and Enrique (Alejandro Sieveking), is roused from slumber by a phone call from the woman’s daughter, Rosario (Claudia Celadon) who proposes a visit for no apparent reason other than not having seen her mum for a while.
Things change when Rosario arrives for she has an ulterior motive she’s unable to conceal for long. As well as her lesbian lover Hugo (Catalina Saavedra) she’s also brought along papers for her mentally fragile mother to sign which would give her full claim to the apartment. Arguments rage as a variety of emotions is explored through the afternoon in which niceties are quickly dispensed with.
The directors skilfully manipulate aspects of the group dynamic once the younger women enter the fray. Enrique and Hugo are the placating pair, aiming for a subtler form of manipulation that might ultimately benefit them but attempting, at least, to appear neutral. But the central battle of wills remains between mother and daughter who clearly have a long and troubled history in which lovelessness has coloured their dealings and driven an almost immovable wedge between them.
Old Cats is a low-key, naturalistic and superbly acted drama, building superbly from a sleepy, innocuous opening which didn’t bode well. The bond between mother and daughter is a compelling dramatic staple and the directors' calculated approach to depicting the tensions between them feels like a masterstroke, never allowing the stakes to be decided on sentimentality or contrivance.
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