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Persepolis
Directed by: Vincent Paronnoud & Marjane Satrapi Starring: Chiara Mastroianni Genre: Animated/Foreign Run Time: 96 min. Release Date: October 2007 On The Web: Official Site Teaser: Movie Trailer Reviewed by Byron Merritt |
Winning the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2007 and even getting a surprising Oscar nod in the Best Animated Feature category, PERSEPOLIS is more of a dramatic biography of one girl’s life as she runs away from her country and her Iranian heritage. Most Americans are probably used to animated films being light, funny, or a combination of the two (thinking along the lines of FINDING NEMO). But Persepolis isn’t even in the same ballpark. The animation is cruder, with thick, black lines indicating the strict black and white laws of Iran during the Islamic Revolution that rocked the nation. No 3-dimensions here either. But the austere coloring and 2-dimensional representations are an integral part of the story. The story follows the real-life history of its creator, Marjane Satrapi, who grew up during Iran’s tumult and the battles incurred while trying to find its identity. Marjane, too, tries to find herself, and often latches onto the world around her, until family and friends teach her the horrors of past, present, and probably future. The audience grows up with Marjane, learning the ways of the outside world while watching Iran implode. Alone and lost in a world that doesn’t understand her, Marjane must learn to live her life while worrying about what’s happening back home (she leaves Iran at the behest of her parents and travels around Europe, going to school and working odd jobs). The gripping story is told all from Marjanes point of view, making the viewer care tremendously about this young girl as she creeps into womanhood. We feel her aches and pains as she tries to understand the world around her but keeps getting stymied by her upbringing and her terrible losses back in Iran. I do have to warn potential viewers, though, that this animation holds back nothing. The language, the wars, sex, drugs, it’s all there, and Marjane experiences all of them in their great and terribleness. That being said, this is a breath of fresh air in terms of what most audiences think of as an animated feature. It’ll surprise you again and again.
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Image from Persepolis
DVD cost: $23.99 Purchase: Tower.com Film Review Stew Favorite? No. Stew Poo-Poo? No. Newsworthy: Iran's government sent a letter to the French embassy in Tehran to protest against the movie and pressured the organizers of the 2007 Bangkok Film Festival to drop it from the lineup. Movie Quote: "I remember I led a peaceful, uneventful life as a little girl. I loved fries with ketchup, Bruce Lee was my hero, I wore Adidas sneakers and had two obsessions: Shaving my legs one day and being the last prophet of the galaxy."
Other Actors/Actresses from Persepolis
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Images from Persepolis
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