This “Limited Edition” Blu-ray from Radiance Films will be available for purchase on February 25th.
In the 1980s, action and crime films were a dime a dozen. They were a lot of fun to watch, but the majority (with the exception of titles like Robocop or Runaway Train, which were from European directors) followed a formulaic Hollywood pattern of an flawless hero gunning down baddies and foiling the plot of a sinister villain. Of course, given the popularity of the genre during this era, other countries would also try to make their own action thrillers, often adding their own spin on the subject.
One of those pictures was the German effort, The Cat aka Die Katze. The makers of this picture used a typical heist/action film formula, only presenting their story in a rougher and more brutally realistic fashion. While little known outside its home country, the film was a smash in its homeland and other German-speaking territories. It even won awards, including a Best Director prize at the German equivalent of the Academy Awards. Radiance Films is now releasing a “Limited Edition” Blu-ray of the movie so that North American audiences can finally catch up with it.
As mentioned, the plot might sound familiar, but the events don’t play out as one would initially anticipate. Viewers are literally dropped into the picture with little background as Junghein (Heinz Hoenig) and Britz (Ralf Richter) drive into downtown Düsseldorf, ready to take part in a bank robbery. As it turns out, the site is part of a public square that includes a hotel. The leader of the two criminals, Probek (Götz George), watches from his hotel room window, coaching them every step of the way. With him is his lover, Jutta Ehser (Gudrun Landgrebe). She is the wife of bank manager Filialleiter Ehser (Ulrich Gebauer) and has given Probek details on her husband and the business. Junghein and Britz go inside armed, taking the staff hostage. Police operations manager Voss (Joachim Kemmer) is called in to deal with the situation as the men reveal their demands.
This movie doles out facts and personal background between the robbers only when it becomes necessary during the operation, adding a surprising amount of intrigue to the proceedings. The icy Probek is prepared and remarkably clever about his big plan. What initially seems like a straightforward robbery turns out to be an elaborately-plotted hostage scenario with the characters attempting to extract 3 million marks.
Probek is in complete control early on, anticipating every move of the authorities and taking countermeasures. But as the story progresses, unexpected complications arise. Voss is the officer who previously arrested Junghein, and thus the criminal’s anger towards him puts the plan at risk. Probek and Jutta have a passionate relationship, but the mastermind doesn’t know that she has her own motives and cruel wants, eventually making her own demands about the heist. Pobek and Junghein also have an unexpected past relationship that comes to a head. And while the central villain is depicted as cold, calculating and willing to throw anyone under the bus to get his money, he ultimately shows some affection towards an unexpected recipient.
So, while the robbery is a technical operation, there is a lot going on beneath the surface as motivations are slowly revealed. The film is briskly paced and remarkably tense as complications arise, which become harder and harder for Probek to deal with. This leads to plenty of excitement during the final act. It seems that realism and authenticity were important to the filmmaker and crew, and so there’s a harsh edge to what is occurring as well. All of the robbers are quite mean, terrorizing their hostages and, at times, enjoying it. And the final act offers a couple of really unexpected double crosses and the money changes hands in surprising ways.
This is a strong film and one of the better crime pictures of its era. The picture quality on this Blu-ray is very satisfying as well. The image quality is solid and the grading was overseen by the film’s director, Dominik Graf. There is a natural amount of grain, particularly indoors during darker lit sequences in the hotel room. It isn’t distracting though, and many of the outdoor shots are very clean and crisp. There is an attempt to provide a naturalistic look to the film in order to add to the realism and this transfer captures it perfectly. It’s a nice-looking presentation.
The bonuses are also very enlightening, seeing as this is a German title that isn’t well known outside of its home country. There is an hour-long interview with director Graf, who goes into great detail about making the movie. It seems that lead actor Götz George was a huge star at the time (the German equivalent of Tom Selleck, perhaps?), and was looking to play with and twist his heroic image. Without his participation, the movie would never have been funded, and Graf also talks about how the performer would tell the producers and money men to leave the director alone when they questioned the tone of the film and the fact that George was playing such a nasty figure.
The director notes that the majority of the story takes place in one location. Graf details his troubles in finding the right locale and altering the script to use some of the real square and hotel elements into his tale. The filmmaker notes that while almost everything was set in one place, how difficult it was to shoot outdoor scenes with significant crowds and extras. It’s an interesting track with plenty of good information.
There is also a 30-minute discussion with the screenwriter, who talks about adapting the written source material and the bits of the novel that really struck him as original. He also discusses how he dealt with the nasty behavior of the characters and the ways in which he tried to engage viewers in their story. He notes that it obviously helped to have an actor whom audiences had previously found very likable, and comments about focusing on the deeper personal relationship between Probek and Junghein as a way to get viewers more invested in the story.
Additionally, the producer appears for another half-hour discussion about the film. He mentions what attracted him to the source material, and selling a story to the public that was filled with unlikable individuals. He has some different ideas than the previous two speakers, making an interesting contrast in opinions as to why the movie works as well as it does.
As if that wasn’t enough, director Dominik Graf provides scene select audio commentaries. These are mostly action bits where he points out how he staged the sequences. Listeners learn about the difficulties he found dealing with real explosions, a shoot-out in an actual hotel, and the other unpredictable problems that can arise while shooting this kind of a feature. Finally, there is a trailer for the movie. And as with other Radiance Films Blu-ray releases, a booklet with writing on the movie is included in the package, as well as a reversible sleeve.
Once again, Radiance Films has managed to unearth a wildly entertaining action/thriller that this reviewer had no idea even existed until recently. The Cat is a really tense picture with plenty of memorable story turns. The picture quality is strong and the bonuses are fantastic, giving viewers all the details about how the picture, against all odds, managed to come together brilliantly. This disc comes highly recommended.