Persepolis is Port Fairy Film Society’s February screening. Review by Damien Becker.
Animation grew up long ago thanks largely to Japanese anime and Pixar, but audiences for ‘cartoons’, no matter how worthy the subject matter, can still be tricky to find. Some people just can’t seem to bond with drawings.
If this sounds like you, Persepolis might change your mind. The film looks at the Iranian revolution of the seventies through the voice of Marjane, a teenage girl with a dangerous love of punk rock. Marjane, like the film itself, is smart and endearingly straightforward. The revolution brings oppression and regression, especially for wisecracking rebellious teenage girls. This is a painful memory, but she doesn’t flinch in the telling of it with bite and humour.
Persepolis is a film of an autobiographic comic about an Iranian girl fleeing to France while speaking mostly in English. It sounds confusing, but it’s easy to watch and enjoy. It also chronicles a forgotten story, when Iran was open and tolerant until change came both insidiously and frighteningly swiftly.
The more sophisticated cinema effects technology and the fancier the editing gets, the clearer it is whether the people involved know what they’re doing as old fashioned filmmakers. A good story well told visually is still the foundation of the best films, as it always was.
Two recent animations, Persepolis and Waltz With Bashir have wowed audiences and critics even as they tackled difficult aspects of Middle East history. Persepolis beat all conventional films to win the Jury Prize at Cannes. Waltz With Bashir has even been nominated for an Oscar in a general film category, Best Foreign Language Picture.
The animation of Persepolis is hand-drawn but sharp and magical, and what it lacks in effects trickery it replaces with heartfelt, clever writing and clear visual style.
“An uplifting, funny, moving fable about the difference between the ideal of freedom and the real thing,” wrote Jim Schembri of The Age.
“A unique insight into life in Iran from the point of view of a young girl, this observant cinematic impression sears itself into our consciousness by its simplicity,” said Louise Keller from Urban Cinefiles.
“Four stars… this is a hymn to the human spirit, to a young woman who refused to let fundamentalism destroy her love of life,” said David Stratton, of ABC-TV’s At the Movies.
Screening starts at 7.30pm. Memberships available at the door, tea and coffee provided.
Click below to watch trailer:
2 comments:
Hey that was some animated film! Thank you so much for showing it on the big screen, well and truly worth it. I forgot to catch up with one of the members before leaving but I wanted to request a showing of 'Waltz with Bashir' if possible. I saw the review on the movie show plus the interview with the director I think it would certainly have the same depth and artistic excellence also found in 'Persopolis'.
Thanks Ian, it was terrific, though my impression was that the audience was wanting to know more about Marjan's life after leaving Iran for the final time. 'Waltz With Bashir' played in Hamilton recently for their film society. I'll take your request to the committee. We tossed up between it or 'Persepolis' because we figured we couldn't get away with two animations set in the Middle East in one year! Audiences still seem to have a thing against 'cartoons', though hopefully we are doing our bit to break this down. I can't wait for the next Murakami animation... my favourite filmmaker of all. And did you see Wall-E recently - a masterpiece!
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