Nobody Knows About the Persian Cats.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — International Cinema
Gular-Scute — 16 years ago(March 27, 2010 12:29 PM)
I already posted a recommendation for this on Film General in the hope that at least one person might pick up on it.
Have many users of this board seen it?
http://www.imdb.com/board/11426378/
It's an excellent film by Bahman Ghobadi about underground Iranian musicians attempting to spread their music in defiance of the state. If it wasn't set in a repressive theocratic regime, it's subject matter could have led to it being just another 'the kids just wanna rock' kind of film. However, the reality of their struggles give it great depth and substance.
It's terrible that the artists could be lashed and imprisoned just for doing what comes naturally to a musician- following creative impulses and trying to share them.
The performances by a cast of what I assume are non-actors are believable, poignant and even humorous at times. Although the film is obviously done on the cheap, the cinematography is lively and stunning and the occasional montages of seemingly abstract images all help to lift it well above the norm of independent, guerilla filmmaking.
Most of the music is superb too. Even the occasional clunky songs have a charm and naivete about them that makes them worth hearing.
See it if you can.