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Daniel Schmid: Le Chat Qui Pense

Name: Daniel Schmid: Le Chat Qui Pense
Director: Benny Jaberg, Pascal Hofmann
Released: 2010
Duration: 83 min

Representation Score

5.9/10

Fair

2010

Director

Benny Jaberg, Pascal Hofmann

Runtime

83 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

This documentary serves as a detailed historical record of a movement that challenged social and cinematic norms. It successfully documents the avant-garde identities and non-conformist values of the New German Cinema era. While the film provides a rich portrayal of queer subcultures and powerful female archetypes, it focuses narrowly on a specific European art scene. This limits its racial and ethnic diversity. Ultimately, the film is a niche biographical study. It offers meaningful representation of progressive artistic values but does not provide broad social commentary.

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Category Breakdown

Does Daniel Schmid: Le Chat Qui Pense have LGBTQ+ representation?

Good

The film captures a period of cinema focused on exploring queer identities. Archival footage highlights non-traditional gender expressions associated with the New German Cinema movement.

How does Daniel Schmid: Le Chat Qui Pense portray gender?

Good

The documentary centers on powerful women who are key figures in expression. Working with Ingrid Caven, it moves away from traditional, submissive roles for women.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Daniel Schmid: Le Chat Qui Pense?

Fair

The film focuses on a specific mid-20th-century European milieu. There is no evidence of a multi-ethnic cast or a deliberate effort to center non-Western perspectives.

How does Daniel Schmid: Le Chat Qui Pense represent religion and culture?

Good

The film celebrates artists who stand outside mainstream culture and prioritize individualistic, non-conformist artistic values.

Does Daniel Schmid: Le Chat Qui Pense include disability representation?

Minimal

The documentary does not include characters or subjects dealing with physical or neurodivergent disabilities.

Present on Screen

Captures the queer subcultures and non-traditional gender expressions of the New German Cinema movement.
Highlights women as central, powerful figures in cinematic expression through the 'diva' archetype.
Celebrates the outsider artist and prioritizes individualistic, non-conformist artistic values.

Limited or Absent

Lacks a diverse, multi-ethnic cast or representation of non-Western perspectives.
Focuses narrowly on a specific mid-20th-century European demographic and cultural milieu.
Provides no visible representation of individuals navigating physical or neurodivergent disabilities.

Official Synopsis

When director Daniel Schmid grew up, his parents ran a hotel in the Alps, and this singular setting was to influence his film. Rather by coincidence, he came to Berlin in the early 1960s and became part of the new German wave. Schmid worked with, among others, Wenders and Fassbinder, for example, as an actor in Wender’s The American Friend. He met Ingrid Caven, who was to play a diva in several of his films. This is a documentation of a part of modern European film history and a good analysis of artistry and how it corresponds to the individual behind the camera. A wealth of archival footage brings us close to many directors and actors in Schmid’s circle. If you’ve never seen a Daniel Schmid film, you are sure to want to after watching this portrait of his life.

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