Fish & Cat was inspired by the true story of a restaurant in northern Iran that served human flesh in the late 90s. Iranian actors Babak Karimi and Saeid Ebrahimifar, along with young, unknown theatre artists, appeared in the film.[5]
Many critics found the film innovative and technically impressive.[citation needed] The film was screened in Iran in several cinemas, including Azadi Cinema Complex and Kourosh Complex in Tehran and Howeyzeh cinema complex in Mashhad.[6]
A number of students have traveled to the Caspian region in order to participate in a kite-flying event during the winter solstice. Next to their camp is a small hut occupied by three cooks who work at a nearby restaurant.
Gradually subverting a gruesome premise drawn from a real-life case of a backwoods restaurant that served human flesh, the film builds an atmosphere of tension as a menacing pair descend on a campsite where a group of college kids have gathered for a kite-flying festival. But as the camera doubles back and criss-crosses between characters in real time, subtle space-time paradoxes suggest that something bigger is going on.[7]
Shahram Mokri said "I like the paintings of Maurits Escher, where you can see a change in perspective in the same visual. In my film, I wanted to give a change in perspective of time in one single shot. So the idea for the film came from his paintings.[8]
Mokri added "Fish & Cat is a film about time. How you can make a perspective in it and break that. This film was interesting for me to make and that was because of its method of production. Insisting on narrating a story in a single shot and try to break the time which goes ahead."
Music
Mokri wanted a kind of music that combined minimal music with the music of horror Z-movies, so he asked Kristoph Rezaee to score the film.[9]
Critical reception
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Steve MacFarlane from Slant Magazine wrote: "The film is a game: Shahram Mokri challenges his viewers to grip parallel narrative threads in what feels like suspiciously real time, rather than to assemble or contextualize any metaphorical ones."[11]
Alissa Simon from Variety wrote: "“A highly original, compelling feature, filmed in one long, bravura shot establishing Shahram Mokri as a distinctive talent.”[12]
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