Why would “Persepolis” take its form as an animation and in a perused manner of observation opt for the traditional method of hand drawing? One of the directors Marjane Satrapi and it is her autobiography which is the film explained in the interview that it eliminates the confined walls of addressing one nation or people or religion. I did not necessarily notice that but the artistically distorted and hallucinogenic poetry in a reality infested film is a commentary of a woman’s life in an oppressed society and how did it shape her life.Growing up in Iran in the days of its revolution against Shah’s regime, it is past in black and white animation for the young Marjane Satrapi (voice of Garbrielle Lopes) getting educated in opinions, politics and liberation by her dad (voice of Simon Abkarian), her mother (voice of Catherine Denevue) and the wonderfully cheerful grand mother (Danielle Deroux). Along with them are the tragic and eclectic enlighteners like Uncle Anouche (voice of François Jerosme). Merrily dancing it goes through the darker phase of the revolution, arrests and killings. After the revolution and in surviving through the war and its implication over her attitude and morality, she is sent later to Vienna for her schoolings. There she becomes a lady Marjane (voice of Chiara Mastroianni) and from one end of spectrum in stringent rules to walk, talk and dress she goes into this land of cultural paradigm shift.
Yet as more it looks like the narration of the Iran’s cultural inhibition of creativity and fundamentalist rules, it is Marjane’s behavioral science drawn and invented by the society and influences. Being brought up in an open minded family, she is a fan of Bruce Lee and wonders the move of Michael Jackson. When ABBA wins over the coolness of Bee Gees at early age, it is Iron Maiden’s hard metal to shoot Bee Gees in her teens. It shows an irony of rock musical stereotypes over the judgment of the present culture on viewing any Middle Eastern origin people as extremists and fundamentalists. The black market of regular luxury of ours as cosmetics, music and movies on to the streets of Iran is tragically comic.
The audience of “Persepolis” will be limited to the art house group which would appreciate the nuances of the aesthetic appeal of the animation having an antique outlook over a predominant cultural and oppressive issue of a nation. But it is a universal concept of women able to stand up for their rights and if it means leaving their homeland as their rejuvenation into liberation, so be it. Marjane’s father and mother were open minded people to grow her daughter up into some one they got to live under the roofs and shades of a time and people most of their life.
My friend always says that the best artistic work in films comes from Iran while most of it gets banned in the country. That opinion runs synchronous seeing Marjane’s story of survival. Beyond that, “Persepolis” is actually the hearty story of a woman seeing and comparing worlds she was brought up, the world she went out to learn the liberty and the world she created for herself through the intricate minds of prophet images, clouds and her ever loving grandma’s words of wisdom. It has the humour of the tragedy in the denial and just the tragedy itself of how religion morphs into the clutches of the men and women into narrow minded path of distress, pain and violence.
Seeing the traditional animation reminded the good old National Film Development Corporation of India producing general animated concepts of morals and values for Doordarshan Television, a government run telecast. Those had the creativity and finer concepts of individuality in it which I never really appreciated. And Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud magically state that the material dictates through this creativity which I imagine would have been the great cases of those people in the NFDC.
“Persepolis” is not condescending or pseudo intellectual on the Iranian religious rules. A young naïve enthusiastic girl exposed to suppression and strangeness through her walk of child hood and adult hood is the common line of observation. The presentation is new to the eye and the comedy of the animation is how it originated but the drama of the reality apart from the graphic novels of such form is feat which stylistically appeals. It deals with the men than the philosophies of the cult. It deals with the good will of the forward thinkers than being sarcastic and degrading as blind protestors. And in the median of those grows Marjane confused and maturing in her own terms. It while finally dictates the term of a society controlled and closed, Marjane’s journey is “Persepolis”. It is more of a film than the city it takes the title of.
No comments:
Post a Comment