February 27 10:21 PM
Persepolis
By Judit Trunkos
Persepolis, an animated autobiography and recent Oscar nominee, carries viewers through the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the first years of the Iran/Iraq war as seen through the eyes of a rebellious nine-year old girl. The movie is based on Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novels, Persepolis 1: The Story of a Childhood; and Persepolis 2: A Story of a Return. The black and white animation compliments the harsh realities of everyday life in Tehran for young Satrapi, the conflict with the continuously harassing guards, who are forcing women to veil themselves properly, and who encumber the influence of “decadent” Western popular culture, literature, fashion and make up. The observant and smart Marjane finds herself dangerously rebelling against the strict rules and the regime’s propaganda, initially through heavy metal and punk music, but later through speaking out and confronting guards and other officials.
Marjane’s outgoing personality puts her in danger and her parents decide to send her to Europe where she would be more protected. Because of her exile to Austria, the teenaged Satrapi goes through all the changes and experience that young women go through, having only her sense of humor to rely upon. Her critical thinking and intellectual curiosity soon aligns her with a rebellious intellectual group where she gets to learn more about Western ideas and philosophy.
The title of the movie, Persepolis, derives directly from the ancient Persian city’s name, established in the 6th century B.C., and serves as a reminder that Persian culture is much more than its current generalized image. With Persepolis, Satrapi not only introduces a lesser-known side of Iranian culture but also remembers those who fought and died during the 1980s. “I believe that an entire nation should not be judged by the wrongdoing of a few extremists,” Satrapi says on the movie’s official website. “I also do not want those Iranians who lost their lives in prison, defending freedom, who died in the war against Iraq, who suffered under numerous repressive regimes, or who were forced to leave their families and flee their homeland to be forgotten.”
While the actual books provide more explanation and historical background, the movie assumes the viewers’ knowledge of the Islamic Revolution and the Iraq/Iran war and focuses more on the heroin’s personal feelings and humor. Since the story uses Satrapi’s personal memories and includes her actual family members, the overall movie becomes a valid but hurtful interpretation of the life of a young girl, who happened to be born in the middle of a regime change.
The use of mostly black and white abstract characters makes the viewers focus on Satrapi’s feelings. Using black cutouts, the puppet-like abstract scenes, intensify the theme and mood of the scene. Persepolis is very far from the classic Disney animations. War, struggle and oppression provide the background for the story. Towards the end of the movie, however, the additional colors appear, emphasizing the cultural and political change of the environment making the scene warmer and more peaceful.
The more than 600 different characters, all hand drawn, add to the human aspect of the story and also keep the animation close to the original graphic novel. According to Satrapi, the traditional method of tracing, the use of felt tip to go over every line, adds to the personal touch of the movie, unlike computer animation, which creates a mechanical inhuman-like perfection. Persepolis does a good job of stripping the politics away and bringing the characters to the forefront so viewers can see how Satrapi’s family and other intellectuals tried to survive Iran in the 1980s. And that’s what I like most about the film. Satrapi focuses on the personal part of people’s lives, describing the often tragic events through humor and rebellious intellectual curiosity. Growing up in Europe and knowing how versatile and unique every country’s history is, I would give the movie 89 out of 100 due to its lack of historical details and explanations which can be found in the books but not in the movie.
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