Persepolis

I've never been much for animated features. This may be because even when touting that they are for mass audiences ultimately the are still for kids. No amount of self aware pop culture referencing is enough to balance a mediocre narrative which is designed to get kids to laugh. Mainly I suspect this is the old curmudgeon in me who just refuses to accept animation as real movie making. The other extreme is the anime trend of hyper stylized adult stories which have also tended to inspire a yawn from me more than anything else. Perhaps I should have been looking for years at Europe where there seems to be genuine interest in telling both compelling narratives and doing interesting things with visual representation.

Persepolis an autobiographical account of the life of Marjane Satrapi based on her graphic novels, follows Marjane and her life from the Iranian revolution, through the Iran-Iraq war and her time spent in Europe as well as her return. Marjane grew up in a family of educated modern idealist thinkers who opposed the Shah and saw great potential in the revolution. Only to see that potential replaced by an even more dangerous regime of Islamic fundamentalism. We see Marjane caught up in the fervor of the revolution especially thanks to her uncle and her disillusionment when he is put to death. We see the danger of the constant bombings during the Iran-Iraq war and the increasingly oppressive government.

Eventually Marjane's parents send her to Europe to study in Austria to keep her safe. There she falls into a state of uncertainty about who she is and has a series of life defining events such as heartbreak and cultural uneasiness with nihilistic viewpoints. Unable to put up with this continued life, she returns to Iran and attempts to resume her life there. The story is an interesting one following a young idealistic girl through a difficult time in her country's history. It is well told and well acted. It is sincerely funny at times but also sad to the point of heartbreaking at others.

But beyond its narrative force, its also a highly visual film. Foregoing the trend of cgi rendered 3d modeling, the animation is more traditional. This works amazingly especially when showing scenes of stark contrast with silhouetted men and women. The black and white lends itself both to the idea of flashback reflection. In the end I found it to be quite a compelling story with quite a bit of interesting visuals. And the first animated film I've seen in some time that I truly enjoyed and didn't even really think of as being animated.