Kara & Michael’s Blog

Kara’s Review

1. Summarize the plot in one sentence. The autobiography of a woman growing up within the tumult of revolutions in Iran.
2. Who would you take to see this movie? Explain. An indie friend who wouldn’t laugh at me for crying sometimes, someone who loves graphic novels because they’ll appreciate the medium of the movie.
3. What impressed you most about this movie? The fact that the animation was drawn by hand, not simply computer animation. I haven’t seen an animated movie or a tv-show drawn by hand in recent years.
4. What disappointed you most about this movie? The disjointed nature of the story. I think there are a couple really good reasons for this (author is writing about her childhood and memories are often disjointed, this movie is the trimming down of two graphic novels) but it’s still bothersome.
5. One person involved in the production of the film must be given a prestigious award, and one person must be cast into an active volcano. Who should receive each of these fates and why? Both would go to Marjane Satrapi. It is her drawing and her direction with each of her characters and the scenes that really made the medium of this movie incredible. However, it’s also her editing of the story that creates the disjointed nature of the film. She’s cute though, so I think the prestigious award part wins out, for me.
6. Under what circumstances would you watch this film again? If a friend expressed an interest in going, I’d certainly shell out the money to see it again with them. I’d watch it on tv or dvd if someone asked, but I don’t feel the particular need to own it. I have, however, added the graphic novels to my amazon wishlist.

Michael’s Review

1. Summarize the plot in one sentence. One woman provides her recollections of growing up in Iran, with the early days of the Islamic Revolution as a backdrop.
2. Who would you take to see this movie? Explain. My liberal wacko friends. Seriously, though, this is a fine film that not everyone will enjoy. Stephen Colbert interviewed Marjane Satrapi the other night and raised his concerns that the film might humanize the people in the Middle East. Obviously he was joking, but there are American viewers who will perceive a political agenda in this film (none exists) or who just won’t find it interesting. This is not National Treasure: Book of Secrets, but it is a ride of a completely different kind.
3. What impressed you most about this movie? Definitely the visual style. The filmmakers sought to animate a graphic novel and did so in a manner that is at once incredibly straightforward and incredibly unlike anything that’s been done before. I think the film deserves credit for managing to be almost entirely in black and white without the audience really noticing. Persepolis also stays remarkably light in apparent tone given its subject matter. Maybe that’s why graphic novels are such an effective medium for stories underpinned with violence and despair — there’s something beguiling about the format itself.
4. What disappointed you most about this movie? I think it’s easy to lose track of the fact that this is someone’s personal story, and to expect some easy conclusion to be handed to you, gift-wrapped, at the end of the film. That doesn’t happen with Persepolis. I felt, though, that the film set up some expectations of that sort (I don’t know if that’s particular to the film adaptation, since I haven’t read the graphic novels). It feels a bit as though Satrapi has something to say but won’t come out and say it.
5. One person involved in the production of the film must be given a prestigious award, and one person must be cast into an active volcano. Who should receive each of these fates and why? Obviously, Ms. Satrapi should receive the award. As to the person who should be…er…vulcanized, I nominate whoever decided it would be a good idea to redub this film in English for its full U.S. release. I don’t know the person’s name, but they know who they are. The French voice acting is marvelous, and any foreign language dub is bound to be disappointing — maybe not Toho Films disappointing, but disappointing enough.
6. Under what circumstances would you watch this film again? I don’t think this is the sort of film that has a great deal of replay value — its story is straightforward and its effect on the viewer is marked, even without a second viewing. I would have no hesitation to see it again with someone who hadn’t seen it, and I’d probably be willing to shell out for theater tickets. I don’t feel any need to own the DVD, but if I was the sort of person who buys the complete Criterion Collection I would certainly choose to include this film in my library.

Ratings

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