Persepolis Review
by tom elce (dr-pepperite AT hotmail DOT com)February 9th, 2008
Persepolis (2007)
* * * 1/2 out of * * * *
Reviewed by Tom Elce
Directors: Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi
Cast: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Simon Abkarian, Gabrielle Lopes Benites, Gabrielle Lopes, François Jerosme, Tilly Mandelbrot
MPAA Rating: PG-13
BBFC Rating: TBC
A vivid and personal account of the years following the 1979 Islamic revolution told from the point-of-view of writer-director Marjane Satrapi as she grew up in Tehran, Iran, during the revolution and, later, as she left her home for Vienna in search of a better life, "Persepolis" is a political film that doesn't sermonize, a coming-of- age tale wherein the sentiment is never phoney and a traditionally animated gem that (albeit in a different way) could rival fellow Oscar contender "Ratatouille" as the year's most veritable animation. Head- to-head at the impending Oscars ceremony, it seems likely that the Pixar fan-favourite will walk away with the year's Best Animated Feature statuette, but whether "Ratatouille" is the better film should surely be up for debate.
Poignant yet playful (often at the same time) Satrapi's directorial debut - which she helms alongside French director Vincent Paronnaud - is a smoothly flowing, brilliant film that intelligently deals with the universal issues at its core while following the 9-year-old little- girl-that-could (voiced by Gabrielle Lopes) as she's forced to deal with her world crumbling around her when boys and girls start entering schools through different doors, women are suddenly made to wear different items of clothing, and relatives around her begin disappearing. From here Marjane's innocent youth is quickly lost, her liberal parents (voiced by Catherine Deneuve and Simon Abkarian) eventually sending her abroad to Vienna in search of good education and a better life where Marjane lives a life that, while less suffocating than that in Iran, she feels is no more fulfilling. Inevitably, Marjane begins to grow homesick, her inability to fit in outside of her native country coupled with a string of disappointments with the opposite sex instilling in her an apathy that she hopes might vanish upon reuniting with her parents in Iran.
The recipient of the Jury Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, "Persepolis" is a compelling, wonderfully told film based on the autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi that deserves whatever accolades are heaped upon it. It should be applause all- round, for sure, almost every aspect of the film gelling together cohesively and organically.
Traditional hand-drawn animation returns to cinema screens to translate a vitalistic and well-versed story with visual wonder that, as it happens, is rarely achieved so successfully by the computer animation that has largely eliminated such a "basic" approach. History- in-a-box and penetrating coming-of-age tale all in one, "Persepolis" makes the most of what screenwriters Paronnaud and Satrapi serve up. The storytelling sequences - either relatives telling Marjane of their experiences or Marjane's own voice-over - are imaginative and inventive. The fall of the unpopular Shah regime that only makes way for an even more tyrannical Islamic leadership treated as tragedy, the discomfort felt by Marjane as she suddenly finds herself answering to domineering men on the streets enforcing the new regime's rules is felt in the viewer, paranoia and pure horror coming together as she finds herself reduced to covering herself whenever outside and purchasing items as simple as a music CD via the black market, looking over her shoulder to see if anyone's watching all the while - visually and technically.
The animation, quite simply, is sublime, employing the most basic colours available and bringing everything on-screen to life by way of clean, concise fluidity and expressionism that feels genuine through- and-through. Wonderfully drawn and well-edited, the visuals defy the expectations of a black-white animated effort, every crucial development in Marjane's troublesome life brilliantly translated. Puberty hits as a horrific mutation, relationships end in classically heartbreaking style - the discovery of one potential boyfriend's homosexuality a kick-in-the-teeth by an open fire, the walk-in on another current lover with another woman an even greater devastation - and a climactic scene introducing colour to proceedings doesn't condescend by going for wishy-washy feel-good factor. That the introduction of the colours red, peach and brown don't come at the dispensing a palpably dissatisfied Marjane is good to see, also, a confirmation that Paronnaud and Satrapi aren't out to get one over on viewers.
Even if "Persepolis" did close on a falsely uplifting note, though, it would make little matter. The film would still rank as one of the most inspiring and interesting cinematic entries of the past calendar year, a marvel of storytelling great on the eyes as well as the mind. Vivid and winning, "Persepolis" is wondrous animated filmmaking that's playful and poignant at the same time. Rich in history and grown-up plot-points curiously absent in the so-called best animated features of the year - the still-good "Ratatouille" and "The Simpsons Movie" among them - the film is a triumph in almost every aspect, delighting with its intelligence and charm for every frame spent with it. In a genre too frequently inhabited by glossy computer-animated flicks rich in lame toilet humour and bereft of any soul, "Persepolis" stands invigoratingly apart from the crowd, splendidly telling its enveloping story without hitting any sizable stumbling blocks.
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