Persepolis is a French animated movie that narrates the autobiographical story of Iranian artist Marjane Satrap; it is based on her own graphic novel. It is an honest movie, heart-warming, extremely funny and very engaging.
Persepolis tells Marjane's story from childhood to mid youth. We witness her family upbringing, her relationship (or lack of) with God, the political and social events that happened in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, her university years in Austria, her love stories, her emigration to France and her approach to life as a female artist.
There is a lot of humour in this movie. Some of Satrapi's love stories are hilariously narrated despite the impact they had on her. The black market of Western Music will put a big smile in your face (it is directly connected with the situation told in the Iranian movie Nobody Knows about Persian Cats). Also delightful it is the presence of little funny street cats, dogs, and worms in general scenes, which create an atmosphere of proximity and tenderness even during the saddest moments.
The story is mostly presented in
a black-and-white flashback, with a superb use of chiaroscuro and cut-out bold colours for the narration in the present tense. The absence of colour gives the story
historical perspective and seriousness, and it is perfect to portray
Satrapis' past treasured moments: day-dreams, hopes, ideals, music,
culture, smells and happy family times. On the other hand, the black and
white gives the story a necessary emotional detachment to show many of
the hard themes presented in the film: oppression, depression, war,
censorship, torture, immigration and loneliness, among others.
The animation is
minimalist and schematic, flat, but attentive to the detail, very traditional comic-book, still very classy and
contemporary. Persepolis reminded me sometimes of the freshness and creativity of "Sita Sings the Blues" in the way different animation sub-styles are used within the movie. For example, the story of how the Shas of Persia got into power is very "puppetish", while the recreation of the different movies watched on TV (Terminator and Godzilla) have a chunky sort of drawing and are definitely modern pop comic book.
I would have liked that the movie went a little bit further on in time, as Satrapi is a fascinating character, and her story is wonderful. Still, this is one of my favourite animation movies ever, because it touches me in ways that most animation movies cannot. Satrapi's story
succeeds because it goes beyond herself, and we understand -even if it is superficially- what does mean and feel like being an Iranian and Middle
Eastern person in Europe, being a woman -and a special type of woman- in
Iran, being and
artist out of place, and being a foreigner both in your native land and
abroad. Satrapi's story serves to highlight the process of alienation that most immigrants suffer, but also a reflection on what is what makes us who we are, which is something intangible and indescribable, but powerful and unique that
escapes categorisation, national borders or gender, no matter these are part of your cultural background.
This is the sort of movie
that will captivate animation and art lovers, and people
who are into Arts, comics, graphic novels and illustration. It is intellectually
elating and emotionally absorbing, and will feed those viewers who are hungry for
an animation that is different, daring, and meaningful.
Go and grab it
right now (in French with English subtitles, please!).
An independent Iranian film about Tehran's underground forbidden pop-rock scene directed by Bahman Ghobadi. The movie follows young indie-rock artists Ashklan & Negar (played by Ashkan Kooshanejad and Negar Saghaghi respectively) in their quest to get passports, visas and the band members necessary to travel overseas and perform in Nice, and the work of their passionate cheeky "agent" Nader (played by Hamed Behdad).
The film showcases the musical talent and variety of styles of the pop-rock scene in Iran, and their struggle to create, practice, and perform in a country that considers that sort of music an anti-Islamic anti-Iranian activity. The movie is fresh and shows how Music has no boundaries, has an international language, serves to free the spirit and mind, catalyses discontent and express individualism - Music as a subversive peaceful movement. The bands and performers featured in the film, beyond the leading couple, are: Take It Easy Hospital, Rana Farhan, Hichkas, The Yellow Dogs Band, Shervin Najafian, Ash Koosha, Mirza, The Free Keys, Mahdyar Aghajani, Darkoob, Hamed Seyed Javadi, and Nik Aein Band.
The performance of each song is accompanied by a selection of randomly filmed shots of the streets of Tehran, which provide the viewer with a real view of the country - one that is not complacent or hedonistic, but warm and hard at the same time. Four moments deserve a special mention. The first one is the performance of a heavy-metal band in a cow shed, with the cows attending the performance, which I found very funny. The second moment is truly special, and revolves about the lessons that a volunteer musician gives to a group of foreign immigrant children; thy seem enthralled and moved by what they are hearing and their faces show that. The most daring and authentically revolutionary performance comes from rapper Rap Khon, with offers a great performance with raw and heartfelt lyrics. Finally, the performance of jazz-blues soloist Rana Farhan, who has an exquisite voice and world-class talent.
Among the acting moments, I found Hamed's discussion with the police officer after his detention hilarious!
The main problem with the movie is the poor acting abilities of the musicians playing actors, which could have been excused if the script was less simplistic and the story had contextualised its characters. For example, we don't know if they are posh rich kids or middle class kids, we don't know if they are students, workers, live with their parents, are married or engaged, what are the feelings of their family and friends about their music. They are left to scattered comments that, nevertheless, don't show the reality of the musicians in Iran when they are not composing of playing. In fact, the relationship between the leading couple is not even clearly established; they seem to be engaged, but we are not told. The musicians in the movie seem to live in a world where nothing but music matters, which can be true for musicians, but this type of music is forbidden in Iran,and society is very oppressive, so we just want to know more about their situation and real lives so we can understand the musicians better. Moreover, the girls wear a head scarf all the time, even in secret alternative concerts and parties where they drink and smoke. How does a woman fit in the underground musical scene in Iran is never explained. Nagar seems to be accessory to Ashkan and her relations with the other musicians are always through Ashkan, never direct or even warm.
The second problem, to me, is that the movie, despite its freshness and charm, feels more like a documentary, but it is not. I would have preferred the latter, as we would have seem mostly the same people and the same performances and avoid the weaknesses of the script. We love the characters since we meet them for what they are, so why force them to act when they can't?
By the way, I couldn't see this movie without remembering the music-black market in the animation movie Persepolis, which puts into a context how things got so far in Iran regarding music. The context that was missing from this movie.
A charming fresh and interesting film with great musical performances but with a poor script.
