Unholy Cats & Wholesome Dogs

Celebrate domestic pets as captivating lead characters, faithful friends or powerful symbols.

You might’ve seen the Cats and Dogs exhibition at NGV Australia, don’t miss the chance to see iconic cats and dogs on the big screen at ACMI.

Cats and dogs have graced our screens since the earliest days of cinema – dogs also left the factory alongside the workers in the Lumières’ famous short of 1895. These four-legged friends feature as lead characters in many children’s films, while in cinema for adults, they take on different roles – as sidekicks, metaphors or even killers.

Cats, as we know, are less likely than dogs to follow directions so regularly feature as elegant symbols of domesticity, independence or, in the case of the stylish horror Cat People, repressed desire. The various cats in Inside Llewyn Davis are not evil, but rather assured escape artists who exhibit the grace and survival instincts that constantly elude the film’s human lead.

Umberto D. and Lassie Come Home are classics built around the human-dog bond, which still have the capacity to move us with their powerful stories of love without condition or compromise, while Laurie Anderson uses her pet terrier Lolabelle as a catalyst (dogalyst?) for a deeper examination of love and grief in her essay film Heart of a Dog.

Whether your heart is dog- or cat-shaped, all of these films pay tribute to the privileged place these animals hold in our lives.

– Fiona Trigg, Senior Curator