Boring, long, and too preachy.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

I decided to watch this film because I was under the impression that it was a documentary about a band from Iran that I like called the Yellow Dogs. It turns out that this film is neither a documentary nor about that band, though the band and their music are featured in several scenes. In any case, I'm glad I found this film and watched it, because it was a good and fresh experience.The movie is about a couple of young musicians in Iran who are trying to get a band together and leave the country to go tour abroad, though many obstacles stand in the way of their dreams. I like the story and the style of the movie. It feels very real and took me quite a while to figure out that what I was watching was not a documentary. There is one scene I particularly enjoyed in which several musicians are sitting around eating and talking about what they would wish for. It felt very dramatic and poignant but still very real.Another thing I liked about the movie was the music. Several different musical acts comprising a variety of eclectic genres appear in the film and perform songs in their entirety. Usually these songs are accompanied by music videos which look as if they were pieced together from the film's B-roll footage and which flow seamlessly into the rest of the film. I specifically liked one scene in which a band is playing in a barn and the music continues uninterrupted as we watch the ailing drummer abandon his drum kit and the others put down their instruments to help him.Overall, the movie was very good and enjoyable. It wasn't boring and the story and pacing were great. It didn't feel like anything groundbreaking to me, but it was fresh and original to a certain degree. There were a few stylistic and editing decisions that kept me from enjoying it more, but it is worth seeing and I'm glad I watched it. I haven't seen many Iranian films but this one offers viewers a pretty good glimpse into city life in that country. I recommend it to music fans or anyone who wants to see something new and different.

Sorry for my bad English, this movie is a super master piece luxury filmed in scope in Iran (I can't understand how they did it), about repressed people who want to make a techno pop concert in Teheran. the movie is incredibly sad but no boring at all. How could they film such a "transgressive" movie in the same country with that bizarre, boring and unpresentable president and goberment is a mystery for us.Iran is a completely different example of what we think as "moshlim" country. People there have been always the best cultured and intellectual people in the region and this movie shows perfectly the anguish they are suffering after the tiranic dictature of this crazy clown, who rules him in such a despotic way.Then I want to know...was this movie filmed in Iran? How they did it?

If you saw 'Heavy Metal In Baghdad' a couple of years ago, you'll know that it is near impossible to be a rock & roll musician in an country that is ruled by Islamic law. Bahman Ghobadi's grim,but fine film,'Kasi az gorbehaye Irani khabar nadareh',released in English speaking countries as 'No One Knows About Persian Cats' will certainly cement that reputation. Filmed on the fly in something like 17 days, without official government say so (which actually did land some of the crew in jail),with borrowed camera equipment (most,if not all films shot in Iran have to be filmed with official government equipment). The results:the film is officially banned in Iran (big surprise?---no surprise,what so ever). The story concerns a cadre of young Iranians who want to form a band to rock out & bring joy to fellow young Iranians (heavens forbid!!!). Most of the film centers on Negar Shaghaghi & Ashkan Koshanejad (playing themselves),two budding indie rockers who form a band with the hopes of playing a big open air festival in London,England (and to get the hell out of Iran,forever). With the help of Nadar (played by Hamed Behdad),a kindly,but not too trust worthy sort who wants to act as manager of the band (he deals in bootlegged/pirated DVD's),tries to get Visas & Passports for everybody in the band. Will Negar & Ashkan see their hopes come to some sort of fruition,or will government censorship of popular culture throw the usual roadblock in their way?. Bahman Gobadi (A Time For Drunken Horses),in addition to directing,co writes the screenplay with his girl friend,Roxanne Saben (who was recently released from a jail sentence for spying),as well as set designer. I admired the film's documentary look (key scenes are shot with hand held cameras),with some fast cut editing. A film to get your dander up & make you think (and pity)the poor souls who have to deal with the daily dose of government b.s. Spoken in Farsi & Persian with English subtitles. Not rated by the MPAA,this film contains a bit of drug abuse,and a couple of unfortunate deaths

What happens when u want to win some prizes? For sure you have to know, understand and refine what u do according to the criteria the game is based on. This is a normal routine when Iranian directors try to make a movie. They do not make films for their local audience or for the main goal of cinema industry, which is entertainment. They just want to be concerned as award-winners. // "No one knows about Persian cats" follows exactly the same procedure, giving the foreign audience the most pleasing sense: "Aaah, them ones. Look how pitiful they are, and feel the pressure the elite ones are under". Actually, I myself do not deny the pressure or the absurdness of an ideological government. But this is not the point here. In the case of "No one knows about Persian cats", I want to raise a simple question: WHERE IS CINEMA? // To make the question of this review more clear, I have to ask some other questions: "Can someone take a camera, shoot some scenes, add up some music to it and call it a film? Do we call the shots taken in a birthday party a movie? What are the ingredients that make a film?" // Using old-fashioned techniques of documentary-type shooting, and adding it to good forbidden music are the keys used to make this movie, no matter whether the picture and music match each other or not, because they just have to match the award-winning criteria. And then comes the question: is it enough? For sure not. You have to add a dramatic ending to that, which may be a suicide, or even two! Now We have the guarantee to win. // Good luck Mr. Ghobadi. Enjoy your trip!