Fresh
It should not have taken luck and a charitable filmmaker to save Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani.
Janice Page, Boston Globe
The Cats of Mirikitani
2006 · 1h 14m · Not Rated
Documentary
Directed by
Linda Hattendorf
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The Cats of Mirikitani
Overview
Documentary about red-bereted Jimmy Mirikitani, a feisty painter working and living on the street, near the World Trade Center, when 9/11 devastates the neighborhood. A nearby film editor, Linda Hattendorf, persuades elderly Jimmy to move in with her, while seeking a permanent home for him. The young woman delves into the California-born, Japan-raised artist's unique life which developed his resilient personality, and fuel his 2 main subjects, cats and internment camps. The editor films Jimmy's remarkable journey.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
96%
Tomatometer
Fresh
By paying him attention and making this portrait, [director Hattendorf] makes us see Jimmy Mirikitani as a three-dimensional person and not a stereotype of homelessness. You leave the film glad to have met him.
Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic
Fresh
Offering pleasant surprises and emotional revelations, it's a compassionate film about healing and the human connections that are vital to that process.
Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times
Fresh
What begins as a straightforward docu on an elderly homeless artist in New York City winds up as an indictment of U.S. internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII.
Ronnie Scheib, Variety
Fresh
It's one of the best kinds of documentaries -- not calculated but serendipitous.
David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture
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