Kasi az gorbehaye irani khabar nadareh 2009

Michael Phillips, At the Movies: The underground music scene in Tehran comes to life in all these different sort of clandestine studio scenes. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: No One Knows About Persian Cats ends on a sudden note of tragedy that almost ruins the exuberant spirit of everything that has preceded it. Read more

John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: No One Knows About Persian Cats is an exhilarating examination of a leading Iranian criminal enterprise -- music... Read more

Ted Fry, Seattle Times: The dynamic sequences of musical performances are interspersed with vignettes that come off tense or comic as the trio moves through back alleys and the underground in an urgent, life-and-death quest for freedom and rock 'n' roll. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: Though it's cool to hear the variety of the Iranian underground music scene (which encompasses heavy metal, blues, folk, hip-hop, and cabaret-pop, among other styles), No One Knows About Persian Cats is a drama largely devoid of, well, drama. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Over and over, the movie stops in its tracks to listen to musicians play, offering witness to their travails and ingenuity. Read more

Cliff Doerksen, Chicago Reader: An appealing cast of aspiring young musicians ostensibly play themselves in this naive, shapeless, but often fascinating 2009 drama. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: The blend of tunes and plot works just fine as a daisy chain of music videos, though some of the glossier segments feel out of place in an otherwise rough-hewn film about art in the face of repression. These cats are wild at heart. Read more

Cary Darling, Dallas Morning News: A winning and celebratory look at Tehran's distressed rock musicians. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: 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. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: The film has a remarkably exuberant spirit that is impossible to resist... Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: The subject may be serious, but Ghobadi's approach is mostly light and humorous, at least until the final scenes. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: A vibrant, engaging portrait of a generation bursting with repressed creativity. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: 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. Read more

Alissa Simon, Variety: Fueled by frustration with the myriad prohibitions governing life in Iran, No One Knows About Persian Cats strings an improvised tale around Tehran's underground indie-rock scene. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: Cconsidering that everything the movie shows -- including two women singing a folk song -- is illegal, bravado is a given. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Ghobadi has emerged as a filmmaker whose gift for poetic realism was only equaled by an unerring sense of precisely when and how to break the viewer's heart. Read more