Animated feature based on the graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi
Directors: Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud
English Soundtrack Voices: Sean Penn, Catherine Deneuve, Gena Rowlands, Iggy Pop, Chiara Mastroianni
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics 22525 [Street date: June 24, 08]
Video: 1.85:1 anamorphic/enhanced for 16:9 B&W & color
Audio: English DD 5.1, French DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Extras: “The Hidden Side of Persepolis;” Behind the Scenes of Persepolis; Press conference at Cannes 2007; Animated scene comparisons with commentary by Satrapi; Commentary on selected scenes by Satrapi, Paronnaud & Mastroianni
Length: 95 minutes
Rating: *****
Persepolis was an Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature and probably should have gotten it. It is an extraordinarly touching and informative story of a young girl coming of age in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, the eight-year war with Iraq, and her experiences in France away from the dangers of her homeland. But it is also a graphic masterpiece in its clever use of mostly black and white, high-contrast design quite different from other animated films. In one of the interesting extras with the film, rocker Iggy Pop talks about how thrilled he was to do some of the English dubbing work since he greatly admired the artwork which reminded him of the German expressionist silent B&W films of the twenties. Only a few small touches of color are used for effect. The two partners in the production talk in the extras about how it was realized that they couldn’t just create animated scenes out of the images in Satrapi’s graphic novel, but had to re-think the whole story in cinematic terms. The whole film did, however, continue the laborious pen & ink-on-paper approach rather than using plastic cels or computer animation.
As a little girl Marjane depicts herself as a sort of Heloise hellion-on-wheels, and she is frank about her later bad experiences with relationships and a bout with depression. Considering the terrible experiences she and her family had to go thru both under the Shah’s regime and ever since, it’s no wonder depression became a concern. The film has an excellent approach to getting across the important historical/political realities but making them more personal and affecting by being integral parts of a real person’s life, and not just a documentary on the subject. The transfer is excellent, as all animation seems to be. There is a Blu-ray version too, but I can’t imagine it would be that much improved in clarity and detail over this standard DVD, which was mastered in high definition. (An interesting sidelight of the extras is the long Cannes press conference which included Catherine Deneuve on the panel. The problem was, none of the reporters ever asked her a question and she just sat there looking lost for the entire time and saying nothing.)
– John Sunier
