By When “The Simpsons Movie” came out last July, it had the distinction of being the only animated film to take the traditional hand-drawn route and receive a major release – sort of.
Anyone who saw the film could attest. Much of this film was created in a computer. And that really says everything about animation today: Even when it’s hand-drawn, it’s done with computers. With everything as homogenous as it is, any movie that breaks free of the formula and gets its hands dirty deserves to stand out.
“Persepolis” demands to stand out.
Adapted by Marjane Satrapi, with Vincent Paronnaud, from her graphic novel based on her life, “Persepolis” tells the story of Marjane, a smart, animated girl growing up under the Shah’s rule of Iran. Her feelings concerning the country she’s living in are swayed easily. They are swayed for good when her uncle, a communist, is freed from prison as the revolts happen. When the new regime puts him back in jail, he is allowed one visitor and when he chooses Marjane, it leaves a deep impression on her.
As Marjane grows into a teenager, she becomes rebellious. To go along with her traditional headscarf, she wears Adidas and “Punk Is Not Dead” on the back of her jacket. But when the Iran-Iraq War erupts, her parents decide to send her to safety in Vienna.
Being adapted from a graphic novel, it would’ve been easy for “Persepolis” to tell this story straight, and simply use the novel as storyboards and tell Marjane’s story in a different medium. Many animated films that have come out in recent memory have worked in worlds defined by what a camera can and cannot see. “Persepolis” however breaks through this restriction and embraces the idea that the camera can see whatever they can draw.
Made in black and white, the filmmakers play with the differences between the shadows and the light. Early in the film, Marjane is approached by two authority figures who have taken issue with her choice in footwear and the alterations she has made to her jacket. The bodies of these two figures, clad entirely in black, begin to stretch and manipulate, becoming snakelike. As they scold Marjane, they twist their way around her.
It’s almost a disservice to “Persepolis” to refer to it as an animated movie. It’s a cartoon in the best possible sense; it’s a cartoon in the most Chuck Jones-Tex Avery sense. For a movie that details war and oppression, both on a national and on a personal level, it’s fun to watch. And yet, it never forgets that it’s not telling a fun story. Marjane and her family survive through one dictatorship only to end up with another. They send Marjane away to Europe to escape, only to have her find her own existential crisis a continent away.
It’s this dichotomy that makes “Persepolis” work. It’s nice to see that there’s still a place for traditional hand-drawn films in this world, especially if it’s telling stories like this.
