A Grin Without a Cat (1977)
November 23, 1977Release Date
A Grin Without a Cat (1977)
November 23, 1977Release Date
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Currently A Grin Without a Cat is available for streaming online, rent, buy or watch for free on: OVID
Streaming in:🇺🇸 United States
Cast & Crew.
Laurence Guvillier
Narrator (voice)
Davos Hanich
Narrator (voice)
François Maspero
Narrator (voice)
Yves Montand
Narrator (voice)
François Périer
Narrator (voice)
Sandra Scarnati
Narrator (voice)
Jorge Semprún
Narrator (voice)
Simone Signoret
Narrator (voice)
Fidel Castro
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Salvador Allende
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Vladimir Lenin
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Joseph Stalin
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Mao Zedong
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Qing Jiang
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Zhou Enlai
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Valérie Mayoux
Editor
Võ Nguyên Giáp
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Charles de Gaulle
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Anne-Claire Mittelberger
Editor
Georges Pompidou
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Patrick Sauvion
Editor
Richard Nixon
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Augusto Pinochet
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Chris Marker
Writer / Director / Editor
Media.
Details.
Release DateNovember 23, 1977
Original NameLe fond de l'air est rouge
StatusReleased
Running Time3h
Genres
Last updated:
This Movie Is About.
Wiki.
A Grin Without a Cat is a 1977 French essay film by Chris Marker. It focuses on global political turmoil in the 1960s and '70s, including the rise of the New Left in France and the development of socialist movements in Latin America. Using the image of Lewis Carroll's Cheshire Cat, the film's title evokes a dissonance between the promise of a global socialist revolution (the grin) and its actual nonexistence. The film's original French title is Le fond de l'air est rouge, which means "The essence of the air is red", and has a subtext similar to the English title, implying that the socialist movement existed only in the air.
The title is also a play on words:
The original expression in French is "Le fond de l'air est frais", meaning "there is a chill/a nip in the air". Chris Marker replaced the last word, "frais" (fresh), with "rouge" (red), so the original title translates to There is Red (communism/socialism) in the Air.