Cataturk

KEDI (B+) - It's an 80-minute cat video!

In the working-class neighborhoods of Istanbul skulks an army of stray cats that are an integral part of the fabric of the world's seventh largest city. Filmmaker Ceyda Torun focuses on seven cats that are treated like any other neighbor in a city of more than 14 million people.

Among them are ginger tabby Sari, a mom who hustles all over to find scraps of food to bring back to her kittens; black-masked, crazy Psikopat (it translates phonetically); and soft-grey Duman, who is too polite to enter the restaurant he hangs out at but, rather, adorably paws at the front window when he wants a snack. The various personalities shine through, as if they could speak at any moment.

Torun's camera often tags a few steps behind the adventurous cats, at ground level, as if the critters were characters in a Dardenne brothers movie. She shows great patience in chronicling the life of your average street cat, capturing lazy moments as well as misadventures, from rooftops to fish markets.

Various city dwellers provide a running commentary, mostly in the form of bromides and philosophical observations about the cats' contributions to the hum of the urban culture. We're supposed to see these creatures as zen-like gurus enriching the lives of these working stiffs who dote on their feline friends. (Two women cook up a huge pot of chicken fixins daily for their large brood and others walking the streets.) That theme never quite connects.

But Torun needs some sort of narrative hook -- lest she truly just patch together an 80-minute cat video -- and that one is as inoffensive as any. Another thing that might nag at the viewer is how the filmmakers pretty much ignore the issue of spay-and-neuter policies. This is an uplifting movie, and we're not supposed to sit there and wonder about all the kittens that die from the effects of overpopulation.

But let's not put too much thought into this one. There is charm to burn here. Kitties!