Persepolis, the graphic novel comes to life

Well, I decided to benefit from the long weekend by watching a whole slew of films online with my Netflix account, and let me say that I wasted a lot of time starting and even finishing some pretty mediocre films. One of them definitely stood out, though, so that’s the one I’ll focus on today. Like the recently premiered Coraline film, which I raved about last time, Persepolis is an adaptation of a book that employs a rather unique method of animation. But the similarities stop there. Based on an autobiographical graphic novel (in two parts) by Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis recounts her memoirs of growing up in Iran in the 80s and 90s. Dealing with war, suppression, depression, and loneliness, Persepolis is not always a happy movie. Yet it does have a great deal of humor and lightness to contrast with the darker elements, and it strikes me as very honest (indeed, inexorably so.)

I’m arriving a little late to the Persepolis party, however. I read the books this past fall, but only got around to seeing the film this weekend. Though I definitely liked the books, I kind of hesitated to rush out and see the film because I didn’t think Satrapi’s particular style of drawing really lent itself to animation. Her images are direct and striking, but simple and minimalist. It works wonderfully for the story she tells in the book, but I just couldn’t imagine enjoying a feature-length film in that bare style. In this respect I confess myself to have been very much mistaken. The studio(s?) that worked on this film did an amazing job bringing Satrapi’s artwork to life. I found it incredible how such a minimalist approach could achieve such emotionally poignant and powerful effects. The images are simple, but they are very striking, strongly and effectively portraying some pretty harsh realities in stark black and white. Yet at the same time the film features some very tender, gentle, human moments among Marjane and her family. The young Marjane in particular was extremely real and childlike.

For me personally, I thought the sequences focusing on Marjane’s depression and loneliness later in the film were the most powerful, even more so than the images of war and killing. The artistic combination of animation and sound was very effective, but upsetting as well. Overall, I thought Persepolis was a fantastic adaptation of the original material, beautiful and alternatively funny and harrowing. If you’re looking for something to elevate and cheer your spirits, however, you might want to look elsewhere. Click here for the trailer.

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Just for the heck of it, some of the other stuff I watched this weekend:

• The Other Boleyn Girl - Beautiful to look at, but thoroughly unbelievable.
• Step Up 2 : The Streets - These kids are great dancers, but sadly not great actors. The bad script didn't help much either.
• Enchanted - Okay, this movie is awesome, but it was a re-watch for me.
• Lost In Austen - Delightful little BBC miniseries. Humorous romantic comedy time travel.