A Dysfunctional Cat, written and directed by Susan Gordanshekan - 8 out of 10

A Dysfunctional Cat, written and directed by Susan Gordanshekan
8 out of 10


The Iranians have a fabulous film school, with film makers that have been and are among the best in the world...we could name just Asghar Farhadi - some of his films are reviewed at realini.blogspot.com with Persepolis and other Iranian masterpieces- as an example.

Cinemax is wonderful in that it gives viewers the opportunity to familiarize with less famous authors, traditions, cultures and customs that are so different from ours.
Alas, Iran seems to be the enemy of the west, if we only listen to the news...they appear to be behind the attack on an installation in Saudi Arabia.

Half the production of that state is cut now and the big problem is that they were also the ones to provide spare capacity in an emergency.
And this is such a case.

I don't know what the price of oil is right now, but one analyst was talking of three figure again!

Therefore, to watch Iranians involved in Games People Play (a classic by Eric Berne) seems an unfortunate idea.
Just as they argue in court:

Your honor, the jury would be biased by this frenetic coverage in the media...
And it is all negative

The characters in Die Defekte Katze are harmless though.
They make the point in fact that we are all so similar and it is most often the leaders, Crazy Trump and abominable Ayatollahs with their fanatic Houthi militias that can cause so much damage.

Mina aka Pegah Ferydoni is the heroine and she is just a young woman who wants to swim in the pool, dance and have a drink - which is a problem, sometimes a tragic one, in Iran, but acceptable in Germany, where she tries to find asylum.
Alas, she has a Defekte Katze and the beautiful animal, with peculiar pointed ears, such as I have never seen before or I don't remember, is causing problems.

She wrecks the room where she is...well, almost...defecates on the rug - was it also the shirts? - and becomes non grata for Kian.

Maybe he will change his mind.
Otherwise, the problems they face seem familiar.

Kian is a surgeon and he loses one patient unfortunately.
He has a colleague, Sophie, who works in the same hospital, while her husband, Lars, is preparing for his doctorate.

At least that's what he says.
He has been doing it for six years and that seems too long for it to be successful.

Furthermore, when there is an opportunity for him to drive Mina home, he asks her is she has some food, to take advantage it seems.
He has their baby with him, but when the infant is asleep, the father talks about him being the modern man, taking care of the baby while his spouse works, unlike most men or those of the past...

And then he tries to kiss Mina, just as Kian has entered the home.

If it is not on a level with A Separation, Blackboards or other Iranian chefs d'oeuvre, Die Defekte Katze is still an interesting motion picture.