Review of Persepolis

The Political As Personal, The Personal As Political

As evidenced by the recent slate of disastrously incompetent political films Americans have been subjected to recently (Lions For Lambs, Redacted, In The Valley Of Elah, et cetera), to make a film that combines the political with the personal is no easy task. It's a predicament that constantly pushes art to the border of sentimentality, and at the same time continually begs for further articulation. The best political films offer serious political analyses, yet they are clever enough to do it in a subtle enough manner that the films don't feel didactic. Half Nelson, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden's 2006 masterpiece, is the best example in some time. Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis doesn't reach the level of brilliance that Half Nelson achieved, but few films do; let it suffice to say that the film is a very strong effort about a heated political subject. The film is personal in the most direct way - it's based on Satrapi's 2003 graphic novel of the same name, which is essentially a memoir of her coming-of-age as a young Muslim girl in Iran, then Vienna, and finally France. The film's protagonist is Marjane herself (voiced by Chiara Mastroianni), an outspoken young girl whose family is significantly involved in Iranian politics - Marjane's uncle is a revolutionary who is strongly committed to the cause of overthrowing the Shah. This uncle, Anouche (Francois Jerosme), serves as something of a mentor for young Marjane, who learns from her uncle the importance of committing oneself to one's beliefs. We see this manifest itself in Marjane's individualism, which blossoms as she grows older, in full conflict with the oppressive regime of the Ayatollah, which quickly replaces the Shah's as the film begins. Marjane has a touching love of Western cultural icons - Bruce Lee when she's younger, Iron Maiden when she gets older. She bravely sports a sweatshirt on the streets of Tehran that reads, "PUNK IS NOT DED" (sic). As Marjane gets older, her individualism proves to be too problematic, and her parents decide to send her to a French school in Vienna; this is the beginning of a new maturation process, as she makes new friends, has new adventures, and so on. The film's narrative is not exactly groundbreaking in its originality, but what it may lack due to predictability it makes up for in the genuine sympathy we feel for its characters, namely Marjane. Without being didactic, Satrapi has made a film that is fiercely political; without being sentimental, she has made one that is extremely personal. Portraits of people living under political strain tend to come out soaked in one of these two qualities, if not both - but the film is too nuanced and subtle for this to occur. The film's formal attributes bear noting. The film is animated, and the look is almost exactly in keeping with the look of Satrapi's graphic novel source material. There's a certain pathos brought out in the animation that is difficult to articulate, perhaps because it remains comfortably below the surface. The only instance of drawing-as-demonization occurs when we see two Muslim women studying Marjane's sweatshirt, interrogating her as to why she is wearing such a Western garment. The shape of their black outfits comes out in such curves as to mimic the body of a snake. Persepolis is a rare film insofar as it manages to be genuine with suffering under political causes, without being sentimental or cloying. Perhaps this is because, in sum total, it's a film that is not so much about large political movements or causes as it is about what it is like to be an ordinary human being living in politically charged times. A trip to the grocery store could include a bombing, but it is a trip that must be made, regardless.

Posted on 12/27/07 by: ZacharyWigon 05:28 PM