First Hit: An interesting beginning and then my interest faded as it became repetitive.
Negar (played by Negar Shaghaghi) and Ashkan (played by Ashkan Koshanejad) are musician songwriters who are looking to get a band together to play at an international music festival in London. They are to sing five songs; four in English and one in Farsi.
The film begins in a recording studio as Negar is looking for assistance in finding musicians. He is introduced to Nadar (played by Hamed Behdad), a want to be manager who is looking to help musicians. Nadar leads Negar and Ashkan on journeys to listen to many different Persian bands.
This is where the film gets tedious. Instead of making the music the bands play be the focal point, the search is the focal point and I lost interest in the story. I would have been more interested in the music but the film didn’t move us in that direction.
One of the things they have to do is get passports and visas to leave Iran. They meet up with an underground guy who will set them up with the proper credentials and the price list, when read off, is oddly funny. In the end it all falls apart.
However, the best part of the film was some of the bands which are featured. There is a heavy metal band, rap group, jazz singer and indie rock groups. Unfortunately the singing of Negar is hurt by Ashkan’s singing.
Shaghaghi is good as the ever hopeful singer songwriter wanting to find a way to get his music heard internationally. Koshanejad is poor as a singer but her muted female role was effective in a country where women have a very minor standing. Behdad was wonderful as the want to be band manager who can talk his way into many things and out of a jail sentence. Filmed in Iran it was obvious that most all women didn’t want their faces seen as the street scenes most every woman turns away from the camera.
Overall: Although based on true events, the film got tedious by not focusing on the unique music by all the different Persian Cats.