As far as comic books go, the French side of things is an easy place to point to to prove that the medium can be much more than superhero schlock, if you’re not into manga for whatever reason. You’ve got all the childhood favorites like Tintin and Asterix, long-running action dramas like XIII, scifi classics like Valerian or The Incal, or more personal tales like Blue is the Warmest Color (of course, on the flip side there’s, sigh, Les Blondes, but whatever). And there’s a personal favorite of mine—Iranian-French Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel Persepolis, adapted fairly faithfully into an animated flick in 2007.
It’s also in part an account of the history of Iran from about the early seventies up until more or less the modern era—focusing on a young precocious Satrapi growing up in a middle-class family during the Shah era, cobbling together all she hears from her parents and rather more radical relatives. Between lessons on colonial kingmaking in 20th century Persia to little Satrapi conflating together God and Karl Marx, you’ve got just the right opening act to ease you in. The animation’s decent too—taking Satrapi’s style from the graphic novel into a nicely fluid aesthetic that fully indulges the medium, from caricatures to transformation to occasionally presenting the harsh brutality of conflicts to come, with but contrasts and silhouette.
Inevitably we get to the revolution, which swapped out the Shah for a new regime that, especially to Satrapi’s family, was anything but a true improvement. So ensues the moral crusades against the supposed evils of denim jackets and Kim Wilde cassette tapes—where the graphic novel leaned fully into the absurdism of it all, the film takes the slightly darker and more cynical leaning. Still, it’s not without its funny moments, like Marjane’s very frank rebuke to an obscenity patrol overly concerned with her running motions.
The looks at the Iran-Iraq war make for some of the most memorable moments animation-wise—minimalist but blunt, which is no bad thing by me. The middle act, set in her student days in Vienna, shifts tact as Marjane moves between crowds of punks and pretentious nihilists, while suffering the confusions of being in an utterly foreign place that in part seems to resent her very presence. It’ll be more than relatable for anyone who’s had to travel around for such things.
Even darker than all the above comes the end—with themes of suicide, depression, and the inanity of a regime with a rather less than kind disposition towards women grinding down upon our subject. Going from the carefree childhood days to this are what both versions of the story so effective and interesting to me—and nothing is held back. That includes, to make a lighter note, Marjane herself putting on a karaoke version of ‘Eye of the Tiger’ to a montage near the end.
The film itself was snubbed at the ’07 Oscars for Ratatouille—which don’t get me wrong was a perfectly fine film, but that doesn’t mean I’m not left with the feeling than an opportunity was missed. Still, Persepolis has gained its share of recognition over the years, with Marjane going on to become a filmmaker in France after finally leaving Iran for good. I don’t have too much more to say other than if any of the above stirs your interest slightly, go and see it—it’s definitely one of a kind among western animated realms, and a good a look as any into histories that are chaotic to say the least….
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