Persepolis

Last night on a late night sojourn to Wal-Mart, I perused the usual sections I always do. There is something special about going to a 24 hour store late at night. Maybe it's the access to a huge inventory with no crowd around. I will digress, that's another topic for another blog.

I was in the dvd section, and happened upon a veritable diamond in the rough sticking out like sore thumb. It was an animated film with such a simple contrast yet bold style that won a lot of awards. What caught my eye on the cover was a depiction of a little Iranian girl being harassed by two older Iranian women because she was wearing a jacket which said "Punk Is Not Ded". Oh, I had to own this multi-award winning film that flew so low under my radar that somehow was on the shelves of a conglomerate store.

Yes, this film is the one known as "Persepolis". It was based on a graphic novel apparently. Despite viewing this as the sun was rising, I have to admit that this was an amazing film. It follows the life of a little Iranian girl named Marjane to adulthood, as well as through some of Iran's wars. This movie was simply captivating.

The visuals were superb. While present time story telling was presented in color, the flash backs were in black and white with a very mild sephia(sp) tone. That lack of color really brought out the starkness of what was going on in the story. I think only one scene had the visuals stray from being realistic, and even that was a welcome surprise.

This was also a very sociological and psychological look at the oppression these women faced in that country. Marjane was always reminded of her background, but always encouraged to be herself no matter what. As the story progresses, she takes many strides in learning her own identity and going through life in a different place from an oppressive war torn Iran. I don't want to give away too much, but Marjane is captivating with her bold sass. She also goes through some culture shock as she meets people who don't fully understand the freedoms they take for granted.

I highly recommend this animated feature. It's a surreal look at life through Marjane's eyes as she grows up and copes with things. It doesn't hold back and is enjoyable from beginning to end. I am very glad I picked up Persepolis.