"Persepolis" The Movie

Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood” was transformed into a powerful, emotional and highly entertaining film. It seems fitting that a graphic memoir would be easily made into a film, but I did not expect it to be as moving as a real film. From a series of black and white comic strip pages to a dynamic animated movie, “Persepolis” brings to life the story of a curious Iranian girl in an effective, moving manner. From a kind-hearted fiery little girl to a proud tenacious young women, “Persepolis” unfolds, in black and white animation, the tale of Marjane Satrapi, a survivor of the Islamic revolution, a war and of herself.

As I child I used to watch colorful animated films like Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella that sparked my fantasy and carried me off into a dream-like world full of happiness and hope. As a result, it was quite an interesting parallel to watch this more serious black and white animation, so many years later, and yet be as emotionally moved and engaged as I was. The animation—the stark black and white slow-moving action and scenery echoed a powerful representation of the struggle of the Iranian people. The facial expressions were bold, like a word, they were there and then gone with no time for fading in and out; I felt the climax of the moment.

“Persepolis” has an important comical undertone, one that at times made me laugh out loud and at others prevented me from crying. By nature, Marjorie has a sarcastic sense of humor that plays throughout the film on the absurdity of this situation: dictatorship, murder, imprisonment, lack of freedom. Satrapi brings these crucial and severe issues to surface in a comprehensive, compelling way that weaves in with the development of a little girl into a young adult, lost in where she is from and lost in who she is.

As animated films go, I felt the music was very crucial. It was a classical string instrumental and it was extremely critical in helping the simple animation move freely and forward. Another prominent effect for me was the bomb sounds. They would go off in the background, somewhat subtly but very present at the same time, leaving a black and white flicker at the back of the screen, looking exactly like it would in real life.

There was a lot of falling snow between scenes, slow and heavy, filling the white space of time. It gave me time to reflect and feel what was going on during the “white space” moments, the horror and angst of it all. The scenes in the “present” for the narrator were in color which I thought was very interesting. Everything was seen in a different light, like the color somehow was a doorway to a peaceful, more hopeful future for Marjane.

A lasting image for me was also one of my favorites. It was the Jasmine flowers from her grandma’s bra falling down the screen. The large petals faded slowly down, disappearing into the bottom of the screen. They seemed to represent hope, and the future, but also death and failure.

I was so engaged by this film that I am only now remembering that it was in French. The story (even in subtitles) kept me so emotionally involved that I forgot it was in another language. Part of that may have to do with the fact that I speak French, and so I was less inclined to notice but I definitely think it had a lot to do with the power of this story.