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Iran · 2009
1h 46m
Director Bahman Ghobadi
Starring Negar Shaghaghi, Ashkan Koshanejad, Hamed Behdad, Babak Mirzakhani
Genre Drama
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After deciding to form an underground band, young Iranian songwriters Negar and Ashkan embark on a search for musicians to join them. Along the way, they must avoid persecution from Iranian authorities while also attempting to secure visas so they can travel out of the country and perform at a concert in London.
The movie, largely improvised and totally believable, is often very funny, and the glimpses of life inside what remains a very repressive regime are fascinating, but in the final analysis, despite a fairly grim denouement, there's little here you haven't already seen in Hollywood flicks like "Singles."
The New York Times by A.O. Scott
The film is careful to avoid explicit political statement, but its reticence makes its critique of the Iranian regime all the more devastating.
These artists are risking everything by playing Western-influenced music; that Ghobadi cheapens and cheeses up their subversion with Hollywood tricks makes for a seriously bitter irony.
Bahman Ghobadi can’t be faulted for showcasing so many bands, and the mix is wonderfully eclectic, but the linking episodes aren’t always riveting.
Persian Cats is likeable but undistinguished filmmaking.
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
Director Bahman Ghobadi (Turtles Can Fly) shot his faux documentary in secret, and the close-to-the-ground style compensates for the tenuous narrative structure by capturing the energy and variety of Tehran's music scene in all its bravery.
The movie's principal liability is that most of the music is highly derivative. Ghobadi spends a lot of time on songs that are more interesting sociologically than musically.
The movie comes to life whenever Hamed Behdad appears.
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