Den vita katten

Half a year after Girl with Hyacinths, Swedish cinemas introduced another film by Hasse Ekman – The White Cat, which was considerably similar to the director’s previous work in terms of theme and chosen narration concept. While in the first film viewers searched for the identity of a woman who died tragically in the introduction, The White Cat presents a mysterious protagonist who arrives by train in Stockholm without remembering from where or why. A kindly waitress, played by fragile blonde Eva Henning, takes the nameless, confused man under her wing, and the detective investigation can begin. Thus, the film, which was created as an adaptation of the novel Nycklar till okänt rum (Keys to an Unknown Room, 1950) by Ekman’s close co-worker, writer Walter Ljungquist, once again examines the theme of identity, and the related complex issue of the human psyche. Along with the theme of amnesia and the enigmatic nature of the central character, the film is also permeated by a number of stylishly remarkable dream sequences and hallucinatory flashbacks. (Noir Film Festival)