Persepolis

“Persepolis” is an animated movie based on Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel which tells her story from the time she was a child until her early adulthood. A small animated black and white masterpiece, that in my opinion deserved the Oscar for the best animated feature film of the year in 2008.
The movie starts off in 1979 in Tehran when Marjane was only a 9 year old kid. Coming from a Marxist family, Marjane watches the fall of the Shah, a historic moment that is heavily celebrated among Satrapi’s household. The fall of the Shah represented a new hope for a bright and modern future in the country. However, things don’t really work that way, and instead of a modern and free country, religious fundamentalists take over, the veil becomes mandatory and social freedoms quickly start to disappear. Too rebellious to live in a society like this, Marjane soon starts to develop her curiosity over the western world. Getting Michael Jackon’s tapes in the black market, or using the veil while wearing a jacket with “Punk’s not Dead” scrawled in the back, are just some of the examples that demonstrate this kid’s unconformity towards the society she lives in.

Things get a lot worse when Iran goes to war with Iraq, and so, in order to preserve the safety of the child, Marjane’s parents send her to a French school in Austria. A new journey begins. While she struggles to fit in the western society, Marjane meets a group of anarchist and nihilist friends. She starts going to punk rock concerts and loses herself for a while in some alternative cultures. It doesn’t take long until Marjane starts realizing that the nihilist culture that she just met isn’t exactly what fills her heart. Two options arise. Either Marjane’s gives up her family and home, or she can lose her individuality and freedom and go back to Iran.
Marjane chooses to go back to Iran and start a new life. She gets married but after a while she gets tired of her new meaningless life in a society that doesn’t accept her curiosity and modern ideals. Tehran was not the place for Marjane. As expected, she leaves her husband and decides to go back to Europe.

Well, if after reading this you’re expecting a melodramatic movie you have the wrong picture here! “Persepolis” is full of hilarious moments, with lots of satire and funny inteligent moments. We do have some political moments but always presented in a very smooth and smart way. The character of Marjane’s grandmother as progressive feminist old lady is superbly done. Some of the best moments will evolve around the relationship between Marjane and her grandmother, which as I said is probably one of the best characters in the movie. Also, the movie is in French, but even if I could, I wouldn’t change it into English. It sounds perfect the way it is!

“Persepolis” is really unique, and in an age where computer-driven animation seemed to have taken over, this movie feels refreshing and makes us remember the beauty of the old school animated movies. I would say a 9 out of 10, within its genre.