VERDICT: A closed, patriarchal community begins to transform as the cries of a legendary forest beast foreshadow social revolution in this spirited short.
A mythical creature stalks the periphery of an isolated village in Tian Guan’s The Poison Cat.
Somewhere in the South-west of China, the legend of the eponymous feline keeps the female residents of a small rural hamlet in check. Never permitted to leave the confines of their locality, they are oppressed by their husbands and scared into apparent docility by the wild claims of the local shaman. But are the strange noises emanating from the fringes of the forest the calls of the fabled ‘poison cat’ or the growing pains of a female population beginning to push back against the tired attitudes of the men.
Here the tale of ‘The Poison Cat’, a real legend that can be found in certain parts of China, is reforged into a reckoning with male attitudes towards woman. In particular, this is done through the lens of Tai (Liguo Yuan), the village hunter who has begun to hear unsettling noises in the forest right around their clearing encampment. He and the other men roll their eyes at the women around them and speculate that the recently vanished Pong probably stayed in the nearest town having found himself a more accommodating woman. Meanwhile Tai’s wife Agui (Yanxi Li) flinches when he moves near her and the bruises on her cheeks betray her mistreatment at his hand.
However, what stalks the shadows around the village may not be a wild animal as much as the local woman adopting a radical approach to redressing the imbalance in their society. Guan playfully uses the idea of the cat as a way of both giving the local women some genuine agency, and to lampoon the traditions of the monstrous feminine with which the men also conversely engage. It means that Guan manages to have his cake and eat it, shrewdly having fun with portraying murderous retribution while also sending up gendered scaremongering. Something is hiding in the woods, but what it is remains tantalisingly mysterious.
Director, screenplay: Tian Guan
Cast: Liguo Yuan, Yanxi Li Producers: Vivian Bao, Ningyuan Ding, Angela Wang Cinematography: Chaochen Li Editing: Zhongchen Zhang Sound: Yan Li, Kunjie Tang Music: Keju Luo Production design: Luyue Meng Costume design: Suyu Lin Production companies: Guanyu Film, Daqian Production (China) Venue: Venice Film Festival (Orizzonti Short Films Competition) In Mandarin 17 minutes
