Hoping for a sequel

PERSEPOLIS. Since I have not been a particular punctual movie-goer lately, I figure I can at least be timely in another way. Perhaps like me, you have been glued to -- well, your computer lately to follow the news of what is happening in Iran. As this is not a political blog I will not get into the issue to much except for the context to which it affects a reviewing of Persepolis (TRAILER), a film that I found on my mind a lot lately and as I watched it again, I found the context to be uncanny. This film, based upon autobiographical comic book (or graphic novel if you prefer) by co-director Marjane Satrapi, tells the story of growing up through the Iranian revolution of 1979, the clerical crackdown that followed, and the alienation of leaving her homeland to find freedom.

I assume you have seen the movie, and if not -- go see it. Today. Stop what you are doing because it is available on Netflix Watch it Now. First and foremost, it is a beautiful movie. Many movies have attempted to recreate comic books on film but this one really nails it. Very few animation movies are made without aid of computer-generated images, and as great as some of the Pixar movies have been, there is something particularly appealing in true animation. The design of the nearly all black-and-white movie mixes the realism of telling a true story with the imagination of a creative girl and young woman caged by an restrictive regime. There are many images that caught my eye and the one that comes first to mind is the first scene after the new religious law and showed a group of schoolgirls as white faces against a black backdrop and then moves perspective so show the back background is really the black veil that causes them all to blend together. Also it is great to see the growth of animation being used here and in works like Waltz With Bashir and the work of Richard Linklater (I note this is among MANY others, including a lot of Japanese works, which I admit I am not as familiar with) to explore more serious subjects than adventure and princesses or toys.

We discussed earlier in our blogging endeavor the topic of realism in movies and I expressed my disdain for movies that do not truthfully represent actual events. This movie is an example of why I feel this way. To say that something is "just a movie" does a great disservice to the medium. Watching this movie certainly adds to my understanding of what I am seeing on the streets in Tehran right now as I could easily see Marjane throwing on a green scarf and joining. Sure I would not count on the little history lesson given in the movie as my only historical background to what is happening there, but I would certainly say that providing a perspective that helps a viewer be transported to a different reality and comprehend a different perspective is powerful. Having already seen this movie and read Reading Lolita in Tehran (which one could certainly argue is the Oprah Book Club school of history), what was happening on the streets over the last couple of weeks seemed to make sense because they helped me understand the people in the country do not en masse fall in line with their rulers but instead are more liberal -- especially in regard to the role of women -- than the clerics and, for the most part, many of their neighbors.

One of the fascinating aspects of this Iranian uprising has been that we will have different record of what has happened there through the ability of those inside the country to get their own voice heard. Instead of films made 25 years after a revolution, we have video being shot and distributed now directly from Iranians. There is probably nothing I have watched in quite some time that shook me as much as that of the death of Neda Agha-Soltan, which I'm guessing you have watched or at least heard of by now. I will not embed or link to the video here, but those who have not seen it should do a Google search and find it. The memory of watching the life leave Neda's eyes is something I will never forget, but it still will not be able to reach me or many others in a way that a film has a particularly effective ability. While the video of Neda gives immediate historical context, a movie like Persepolis is able to take a broader picture using art and storytelling. The movie ends with Marjane's mother putting her on a plane to leave Tehran and telling her not to come back, and I found myself wishing the movie would continue and I could see her come back. So many Iranians out there who, like Marjane deeply love their country, are trying to help turn it into a country where people like her will not want to leave. Although the movie never goes that far, I can see Marjane standing among those crowds and her story helps me understand why they are there. And it makes me want to see a sequel where she returns to an Iran where she has the freedom that caused her to leave.