Persepolis [12A]
Animation of one Iranian woman's struggle. |
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In 95 minutes, mainly in stark, elegant or playful black and white animation, Persepolis tells the appalling story of female and other oppression in the vast country of Iran, through the damaged life of one small daughter of the revolution, Marjane Satrapi. The revolution of 1979 that overthrew the last Shah of Persia, that is, the man who, for all his sins - some of which our small heroine hears about from her handsome uncle, one of the nearly 100,000 political prisoners of the Shah's regime - allowed the suffrage and independence of women.
Marjane has a feisty grandmamma - go, just to hear how she addresses the management of breasts - and kindly, anxious parents. Life presses in on the round-faced, earnest Marjane, growing from a small child to an older one, to an adolescent. There are funny moments, there are tissue moments, there are terrible moments. So what that the tides of history are washing through her family's Teheran apartment: she's still a teenager, dammit. Attitude costs more in some countries than others, however and Marjane pays a price as she ping-pongs to the West and back. As the film is autobiographical, and based on an acclaimed graphic memoir (according to the TLS, more subtle than the film in content, although much less so visually) the nature of the price is part of the ongoing debate about societal values in Islamic and Western countries. Now living in France, Satrapi has said, 'If you want to have another culture come into you, you have to take out the first one, then choose what you want from the two and swallow them again.' Whatever way you look at it, it's a painful process. Persepolis, which has awards and award nominations a-plenty, feels like a film with a long shelf-life, one that reminds you how many Iranians died in that country's war with Iraq; that women are everywhere under attack - and that the art of good drawing can make your jaw drop. The traditional animation studios Je Suis Bien Content and Pumpkin 3D deserve all credit. Then there are the voices: Iggy Pop, Catherine Deneuve, Sean Penn..... All in all, a film that swings between the everyday and the eternal: assured, awkward, poignant and powerful. jw, 09/05/08 I didn’t really know what to expect, from Persepolis, but I left the theatre a little more educated. This is the autobiographical story of Marjane Satrapi (though it transcends her experience) which is subtly and uniquely brought to life, in predominantly black and white animation. Through this medium, we are given some insight, (albeit from one character's memory and perspective) into everyday life in Iran, a place I’ve always heard about, yet know little of. There is no possibility of real actors or large sets getting in the way of the story. And for this reason I think the animation really works. It’s tragic, inspiring, and funny. And what stayed with me was Marjane's apparent torment, over her sense of belonging, her family’s quest for normality and freedom and the cost of those basic rights. It turns out the human experience is universal. SJDM or my2cents, 02/05/08 It was a nicely told, entertaining story - beautifully made. Just someone's life, someone from a very different place from us. It's nice to have another viewpoint on things. Not groundbreaking. But then it wasn't supposed to be. piggo, 28/04/08 |
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