Review of No One Knows About Persian Cats (2009) by Dave J — 03 May 2010

Western music acts sometimes like to flatter themselves with the description 'underground' when they're really just unpopular. This fascinating film documents what it's like when your bid to be a star of indie, rap or metal music has to be truly secretive and word-of-mouth. That's the way it has to be when there are people in power who might have you thrown in jail or flogged for being in a band with a female lead singer, or simply for performing without waiting for an incompetent bureaucracy to grant you a licence. It's a comedy-drama about the formation of a fictional band , but many real stars of the Tehran music scene can be seen here. The courage they show in their determination to communicate is inspirational, and the music is stylistically diverse and often very fine.

The film has incited the severe disapproval of the Iranian authorities - which is scarcely surprising, given that they're depicted as clueless, corrupt and sometimes tragically heavy-handed. But it's still essentially a comedy, and it confirms that the desires of young people to make energetic noises and to write extravagantly miserable lyrics is universal. Joy Division and Nirvana are seemingly still very big in Iran, but perhaps the most surprising moment of all for me was seeing an Arctic Monkeys poster on a Tehran wall. I guess these guys know all about cities that change when the sun goes down...