O P I N I O N
NOT THAT PROFOUND
By Nathan Graziano
Tis’ the season to embrace debauchery and indulge all of our pleasures like the hedonists that we are—while simultaneously tipping our hats to the birth of Jesus Christ1, or any other excuse you use to celebrate the holidays.
And there is no better way to kick off the holiday season this year than to take in the 18-minute cinematic tour de force titled “A Very Kitty Cocktail Party” on either Hulu or YouTube.
For the uninitiated, the premise of this dazzling 2019 short film is deceptively simple: a bunch of kittens dressed in Christmas sweaters and scintillating cocktail outfits are making quite merry at a gathering in an affluent, modernly-decorated loft.
The writer and director of the film are unnamed and unknown2, although one can safely assume that the film is an anonymous pet project—damn right, that pun was intended—by someone revered in the industry, perhaps Scorsese, one of the Coppollas, or given the numerous ground-level shots and experimental camera angles and movements, the ghost of the late-Orson Welles.
“A Very Kitty Cocktail Party” also combines a jazzy, upbeat non-diagetic soundtrack with an astute attention to mise en scene, creating an atmosphere that works on multiple tiers.
For the casual viewer, just looking for some cinematic eye candy to feast on, this brief masterpiece will whisk—another A-plus pun—you away on a short journey into a world of small feline festivities, where the kittens get hammered on “fish nog” while watching spinning spirals and pouncing on each other’s backs.
Yet, for the more cerebral viewer, there is plenty to unpack in “A Very Kitty Cocktail Party.” A blogger named Kevin White poignantly captures the film’s complexities in his review for Letterboxd, and I have no intention of messing with White’s piece of analytic perfection.
But I will add that the short film is a clear allegory for the human being’s joie de vivre colliding with a penchant for depravity and decadence during the holiday season.
In one steamy scene, two of the kittens cavort, seeming to forget the camera is rolling, as their libidos go unchecked beneath a piece of mistletoe. For parents watching the film with their children, you might consider escorting the kiddos away from the screen during this salacious display.
At another point in “A Very Kitty Cocktail Party,” the fourth wall is broken as props—explicitly paper lips on a stick—inexplicably drop into the kittens’ world. But, again, it reminds us all—as we hypnotically engage in the capitalist dance of seasonal materialism—what an absurd universe we inhabit.
I usually try to temper an exuberant review with thoughtful criticism; however, with this gem, not a single frame can be removed without detracting from the film’s visceral impact. If you’re looking to find the holiday spirit this season, “A Very Kitty Cocktail Party” should be your first five-star stop.
- Most scholars agree that Jesus was not born in December, nor in the year A.D. 1. ↩︎
- The only credits provided are the names of the kittens themselves, which are Ace, Fred, Nico, Karolina, Tiger, Maya, Yuki and Pop, who were all screwed out of Oscars. ↩︎
You can reach Nate Graziano at ngrazio5@yahoo.com