Sayako often speaks of an emptiness within people, a hole that yearns to be filled. And she discovers a beautiful solution for that: renting out cats to lonely souls, holding onto the hope that the hole in our hearts will slowly begin to mend.
Naoko Ogigami’s Rent a Cat (2012) is a Japanese comedy-drama film which tells the story of Sayoko (Mikako Ichikawa), the “weird cat lady” of the neighbourhood, mocked by kids who dart past her. She turns every stray’s purr into a purpose larger than life. The movie is a whimsical portrait of human loneliness, belonging to the genre of Japan’s healing cinema. With its warm aesthetic and quiet beauty, it soothes your soul and fills it with comfort and insights.
Sayoko pushes her little cart full of stray cats along the river in search of people who are willing to adopt them. She is single, quiet and seems to be a little quirky because of her unconventional business. The film features the chance meetings she has with people who turn out to be the potential customers, all in dire need of a cat. She inspects them and conducts a very short interview to ensure that they are worthy of the cat’s friendship. She improves their life and existence through this simple act of renting cats to them. Moreover, this selfless act becomes a key for her to cope with her own loneliness and demons.
Ichikawa’s portrayal of Sayako is subtle and charming. The film stands tall as a testimony of the power of connections that we make along the way, be it with humans or a silly little cat. Ogigami is known for her quirky, slice-of-life films that tend to stir the heart and move the spirit. And Rent a Cat effortlessly does it. It is gentle and answers the call of a heart searching for belonging and footing amidst the chaos of the modern world. It teaches us to cherish the beauty of companionship. No matter how brief, it can heal hidden loneliness and fill empty spaces within.
