The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz

• Sophie Bevan: journalist
• Tony Maudsley: Taxi driver
• Andrew Melwille: Fisheries Minister
• Ian McNeice: inspector
• Thomas Browne: Tomas Katz
• Will Keen: Cuthbert

The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz ( Original Title: The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz) is a German - British film directed by Ben Hopkins from 2000.

Action

Strange happens on the day of a solar eclipse in London: A mysterious stranger emerges from the sewers and slips one by one in the shape of various people he meets, be it a taxi driver or as the Minister of Fisheries. Among other things, by means of his hypnotic abilities he plays the people and state institutions large and small pranks, and so plunging the city into chaos inexorably continues. His opponent is a blind police inspector with unusual methods, preferably determined place in physical reality on the astral plane. He is the supernatural quality of operations quickly realized, and together with his assistant Cuthbert he tries his best to oppose the development. However, he can not stop them, because it is located on the very top: It's the end of the world, the reality is off step by step, and the inhabitants of London ( with repurposed subway trains) transferred to the afterlife. The film ends with an eerie afterlife vision and leaves the viewer back baffled.

Characteristics

The film is held in the main, in black and white, with a few colored and sepia sprinklings. He uses a montage of realistic scenes and those that achieve surreal effects with simple equipment resources, as well as images of everyday life in London, which are increasingly alienated and reinterpreted by the type of text and music backing and the action context in which they appear. The surreal elements of the film are signs for the decay of the known reality in the wake of the unfolding apocalypse. In addition to the unmistakable mystical aspect of the film in detail, however, is also influenced by the satire of everyday situations (such as underground failures, the television program as such or the ubiquitous video surveillance).

Criticism

" A history of cinema and film styles from silent film to the video game -quoting experimental film whose improvised acting production places high demands on the viewer's attention. This is however rewarded with a remarkable innovative film experience. "

Awards

• 2002: Award for " Most Promising Young Performance" for Ben Hopkins

• 2000: Award in the category " Best Actor " for Tom Fisher (jointly with Konstantin Prochorowski for Holgi )
• 2000: nomination for " Best Director " for Ben Hopkins (together with Jaume Balagueró for The Nameless )

• 2001: nomination for " Best Director " for Ben Hopkins