Persepolis

I saw the animated movie Persepolis (2007) last night, based on the graphic novels by Marjane Satrapi (which I would also recommend). I highly recommend this, even for film fans who are not necessarily into animation. The film itself tells the coming-of-age of a young Iranian girl during the revolution. The animation style is beautifully stylized and rendered in mostly black-and-white - faithful to the book.

I REALLY wish more animators would look into creating their movies with a more hand-drawn style like this, as opposed to the digital creations like Pixar, for example. The hand-drawn animations just have ten times more personality and beauty than digital animation (I know I may be in the minority on this based off of Pixar's gross earnings, but I just don't care for the look of their cartoons.) Persepolis was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year at the 2008 Oscars but was beat by Pixar's Ratatouille. Though I admit the current Wall-E film looks the best of the bunch, if a bit too cutesy (then again, it IS a children's film, while Persepolis is not). Next up, I'm psyched to be able to see the new Hellboy this week.

A write-up on Persepolis below:

A revolutionary girlhood from graphic novel to animation Satrapi's by now quite famous four-volume Persepolis graphic novel series (2000-2003) recounts her life to age 24, when she left Iran with her family's blessing for the last time and went to live in France (1994). Collaborating with her Paris studio-mate, cartoonist and video artist Vincent Paronnaud and a stellar French cast, she has faithfully and brilliantly transferred her books to a 95-minute black and white animated film. The French version was shown at closing night of the New York Film Festival 2007. Chiara Mastroianni is the voice for the adolescent and adult Marjane; her mother Catherine Deneuve is her mother; Danielle Darrieux her feisty, dead-honest and totally irreverent grandmother. An English-language soundtrack is under way and Sean Penn, Iggy Pop, and Gena Rowlands are aboard for it.

Watch another trailer here on Apple. See an example of the graphic novel illustration here.



Here is the write-up as per Random House regarding the graphic novels:

Originally published to wide critical acclaim in France, where it elicited comparisons to Art Spiegelman's Maus, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi's wise, funny, and heartbreaking memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah's regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran's last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.

Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran: of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life and of the enormous toll repressive regimes exact on the individual spirit. Marjane's child's-eye-view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a stunning reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, through laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love.