Review of No One Knows About Persian Cats (2009) by A.j. S — 20 Jul 2010

Utilizing mostly untrained actors who are talented musicians from the underground scene in Iran, while focusing the narrative on such hardships this actual world presents, â??No One Knows About Persian Catsâ?? is nothing short of extraordinary in its aim and execution.

As much as any other materialistic interests in Iran, the music scene faces extreme censorship to the point of individuals being arrested if they are caught creating it in say: recording studios, basements, and rooftop shacks.

Director Bhaman Ghobadi (who also has a small acting part) introduces foreign countries to this problem of suppression almost as well as Fernando Meirelles documented youth gangs from Rio de Janeiro in â??City of Godâ??, in both form and content.

The acting is amateurish at times, but for the most part entirely believable whereas the hand-held and overexposed camera setups show off the guerilla approach the production had. Every so often the film is laced with music interludes seen in both poetic and music video structures that advance the plot and show Iranian life.

Ghobadi does his best to seam all the ends together and almost succeeds if it werenâ??t for the abrupt conclusion. Yet, there seems to be something magical happening in Ghobadiâ??s film from the message it releases to the entertaining, authentic music played by the actor-musicians.