The Skin of the Cat

Jojo is an actor, entering mid-life crisis. Between the odd dubbing session and overlong periods out of work, he has time to keep his magnificent moustache, his major asset, in trim. Finally, on the eve of the summer-holiday departure a role comes his way: the role of a cat, in a suburban theatre. One evening in the middle of rehearsals, he rushes out to buy a packet of cigarettes in the Turkish café on the corner. Whereupon, his handsome moustache doesnt go amiss, he´s mistaken, it seems, for one of those Turks who frequent the bistro. He is violently attacked, by a group of individuals whose only feature he remarks upon is a pair of running shoes. With his wife and kids at the seaside, he finds himself alone in Paris in the month of August incapable of getting over his attack. Exhausted, he abandons the rehearsals. He has an irresistible desire to somehow understand his attack. Very soon, this urge to understand, turns into a desire for revenge. Is it due perhaps to this almost daily visits to the nice, receptive policemen with whom he becomes acquainted, friendly even? In the evenings his two cop buddies take him on rides into the downbeat suburbs, flashing lights and I.D. checks according to look, just for a laugh. In the event, a teenager on a moped pulls out to rashly. Fancy that, he´s wearing running shoes! Jojo fips over totally to the side of those who don´t hesitate to “avenge” their bottled-up rancour on the weakest. Egged on by his buddies, gets out of the police car and blindly strikes.