MovieChat Forums > Cat People (1942) Discussion > Any Basis in Eastern European Folklore?

Any Basis in Eastern European Folklore?

posted 17 years ago by Petronius Arbiter II
16 replies | jump to latest

Does anybody happen to know if the references to Serbian folklore in this film are in any way authentic, or did the filmmakers just make it up?

Judging by the "werecat" page on Wikipedia, it looks to me like werecat legends were far less common in European cultures than in most other areas, leading me to suspect it was all just a product of the scriptwriters' imaginations; perhaps inspired in part by something of African, Asian, or Latin American origin, but not Serbian or other Eastern European.

"I don't deduce, I observe."

[–] venusnaturalis 17 years ago

I think you could probably find lore like this in the United States too. A couple generations ago my family thought the wind would call your name and if you went to see who was calling you you'd die--or vanish--because it was the dead calling your name.

[–] lise_lotte 16 years ago

No, but wereleopards are probably the most well known werecats in mythology. Though only in africa. There are many "werecults" known to exist in africa, like wereleopards ("leopard people"), werelions, werecrocodiles, to some lesser extent werehyenas and even werewolves.
By the way, even if I'm probably the only one here even reading about them, I wanted to ask wether someone knows if there are any good books or websites about them.

[–] putrescent_stench 13 years ago

I believe there are also werejaguar stories from South America. Don't know of any werecat stories from Eastern Europe. Seems like Serbia would be a strange place for werepanther stories.

An excellent book on shapeshifters is Jamie Hall's "Half-Human, Half-Animal: Tales of Werewolves and Related Creatures."

[–] ContinentalOp 14 years ago

''A couple generations ago my family thought the wind would call your name and if you went to see who was calling you you'd die--or vanish--because it was the dead calling your name. ''

Gaelic? It might be a more modern version of the Bean sidhe, banshee, or bean nighe, the washer woman.

"Namu-myoho-renge-kyo"

[–] Prof_Lostiswitz 16 years ago

Lewton had an obsession with cats. Sinister cats play a part in Russian folklore, although they aren't werecats

[–] alucardvenom 16 years ago

quote"I think you could probably find lore like this in the United States too. A couple generations ago my family thought the wind would call your name and if you went to see who was calling you you'd die--or vanish--because it was the dead calling your name."

There is one similar thing to Balkanian lore where wind can call your name. Actually it's the witches who call your name and if you say a word they will invite you to dance and of course you MUST dance with them till dawn. After that you usually die from low fatigue or you start bleeding from your legs till death... OR... witches beats you up (or you get existed from dance, it can be both ways) and usually "victim" will be found on the other side of the hill\plain\forest badly wounded and almost left for dead...

and about the movie facts: There is no King John in Serian history. There was Karadjordje also known by Turkish forces as Black George (Crni Djordje) so this may inspired Lewton for this "folklore tale" in the movie but I highly doubt because Karadjordje only fought Turkish forces not werecats... Also Serbian people (or any other countries near (Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia... ) couldn't worship Satan because Turkish forced most of the people there to believe in Islamic culture... yet again, most of those people remained true to their original fate which happens to be Christianity, so there wasn't actually time for Satan or other similarities...

ps. Sorry about the spelling Im half drunk :lol:

[–] Prof_Lostiswitz 16 years ago

I'm sure the story is a garbled reference to the Bogomils of medieval Bosnia. They were Christian heretics who were persecuted by the established church, and who converted to Islam after the Turks came along. The Turks are here changed to Mamelukes, to avoid offending any ethnic group.

I haven't identified King John... I suspect he is a composite of various Serbian rulers.

It's interesting to view the movie while bearing in mind the recent suffering of Bosnia.

[–] Steffi_P 13 years ago

Wikipedia assumes him to be based on Emperor Jovan Nenad (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Jovan_Nenad).

[–] lise_lotte 16 years ago

Not true at all.
In Islam, there is Iblis, in any way identical to christian devil.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] april89 15 years ago

As someone from Serbia, I can tell you with certainty that our folklore in no way contains references to "werecats", and there was never a king John in Serbia. It was the product of the film makers' imagination, from another time when the world was a bigger place and Eastern Europe had a certain reputation of mystery and evoked an attraction for the unknown most American people found fascinating.

[–] Prof_Lostiswitz 15 years ago

King John seems to be inspired by Jovan (John) Nenad, who actually drove back the Turks (temporarily). The Turks are called Mamelukes to avoid offending any nationality.

The bit about witches seems to refer to the persecution of the Bogomils, something quite separate from Jovan Nenad.

The werecats are straight out of Lewton's own nightmares - he always had a terror of them.

[–] tehck 13 years ago

Mameluks were a special caste of warrior slaves in the Muslim near East. The earliest groups were formed before the crusades, and Mameluk armies were still in action during the Napoleonic wars. In some areas they actually seized power, and a "Mamluk Sultanate" ruled parts of Egypt and Syria from the late 14th up until the 16th Centuries. These independent Mameluk forces often clashed with other Muslims, especially the Ottoman Turks. I don't know if or when they ever participated in military actions or occupations in Serbia, but it's doubtful they would have done so under the command of the Ottomans, who had their own similar slave warriors, the Janissaries.

[–] KutWrite (1224) 4 years ago

Reminds me of Captain Bogamil, in "Beverly Hills Cop."

[–] ramaja-1 12 years ago

Nope, I'm from Serbia and there is nothing about cats here, escpecialy not panthers.

What is also interesting is that we never had King John ( Jovan ) in our history. :)

[–] TimeTunnel (4769) 6 months ago

This is a very funny and interesting old thread. ♥
While the first reply...

A couple generations ago my family thought the wind would call your name and if you went to see who was calling you'd die--or vanish--because it was the dead calling your name.

...reminds me to the Wild Hunt. 📯 🏇 🏇 🏇

The Wild Hunt comes in different versions and because of it we didn't hang any laundry out to dry between Christmas and Epiphany (January 6th).
During this time the souls of those who died too young rush around, in a wild hunt.
They're angry and resentful!
If the laundry hangs outside these angry souls can get caught in it, may drag you along with them and you'll be lost. 🌪️👻🌪️👻🌪️

After a (serious!) discussion with our mother, we agreed that it's safe to dry the laundry indoors on a drying rack during this time. ☺