I remember reading the original Balzac story in college French.<br /><br />I remember Ken Nordine of WGN-TV in Chicago reading it as one of his late night shows.<br /><br />Always loved the story but never believe they could or would make a movie of it. To my surprise they did and did it VERY well.<br /><br />Few of any Balzac stories lend themselves to dramatization, which is unfortunate, and -cat lover that I am, I was always hoping it WOULD be filmed without a lot of Hollywood sexing up. This is as close to perfect conversion as could be done.<br /><br />The theater of the mind is always better than what the eye can see, but this is as close as I think it can come to letting the imagination of reading meet the reality of seeing.