Persepolis was not what I expected at all. But to be fair, the only thing I knew about it was that it was an animated art film. That was it.
I always have trouble "getting" history, politics, and religion and this movie focused heavily on all three so my review on this movie will not be what someone who does get it would be. And my apologies ahead of time for that. It was really slow at the start and I actually contemplated leaving the theater a few times within the first 30 minutes, but since I paid good money to see it, I wanted to at least leave the theater knowing that I saw the whole thing. It was very confusing for me (the history dunce), but all in all, it was a very good story.
The movie is set in Iran, a story of Marjane told in her words as she grows from a child to a woman while abiding by the rules that are put upon her. She is quite the outspoken character telling her (nun) teachers how everyone wanted "the Shah" to go away and now that everyone got their wishes, the world is actually a worse place to live with more people than ever being executed for not living by the rules.
Persepolis is animated, but is NOT for children. First of all, they would be bored out of their trees because it is 100% in French with English subtitles. Second, there are quite a few sexual references. And, third, there is a LOT of language. Even though the spoken language is French, if they are old enough to read, they will see that the curse words flow freely. And much of it is coming from Marjane as a child speaking to her elders...not really a good influence.
Not really sure what else to say about this movie without making myself sound stupid since I don't really know much about Iranian times then vs. now. Seems like it sucked for women regardless of time frame, so it makes me grateful to be a US citizen. It was pretty powerful even with the very little I knew going into it, so I can only guess that history buffs would probably enjoy it that much more because the events seemed to be fairly accurate and the dialogue was portrayed well. And it might even be based on a true story. Don't know. Don't really care. I go to movies to be entertained and informed....not to follow the origin of each screenplay.
The animation left a lot to be desired and based solely on that, I don't see it winning best animated movie over Ratatouille as some imdb'ers were saying it would. But this was a thinking movie as opposed to just watching a funny flick, so I really don't see it being fair that it would be in the same category.
Not necessary to watch on the big screen. I don't need to see it again anytime soon, but will definitely add it to my collection when it comes out on dvd.
Vixy :]
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Quick note now that the Academy Awards are over and Persepolis lost out to Ratatouille...
I am actually quite disappointed that Persepolis didn't win. And who determines what clip they are going to show from a film, anyway? The scene they decided to show (about Marjane going thru her growth spurt) was probably the weirdest segment in the entire movie! And I'm fairly certain this movie was shown in a limited amount of theaters, so I can picture anyone out there who hadn't even heard of it seeing that series of scenes thinking "what the HELL kind of movie is this?" and then there would be no desire to see it. Which would be a shame, because after thinking about it for awhile, I believe it is a movie that I would see again...perhaps as a second viewing I might understand it a bit better. I was a little fuzzy on why her uncle was in jail in the first place and then got out and was then thrown in jail again. Because he broke the rules, I realize, but which rules did he break that were so horrible that got him arrested.
Anyway, I recommend this film and would welcome a discussion on it.
Vixy :]
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