The Saga Of Marjane Satrapi Is The Centerpiece Of The Riveting Animated Tale Persepolis

American cinema has basically resigned itself to solely dabbling in animated feature films in the case of making family-based features. There's nothing inherently wrong with that at all as the best Disney, PIXAR and LAIKA productions demonstrate but it is a pity that adult-oriented American animation at the cinematic level only crops up once in a blue moon with something like Sausage Party whose whole purpose to exist is to derive comedy from juxtaposing foul-mouthed gags with a medium of storytelling traditionally associated with children's fare. Luckily, many foreign countries have picked up the slack and delivered high-quality animated cinema that doesn't fit into the mold of traditional family movies.


One such non-American effort was the France/Iran collaboration of Persepolis, a feature film based on the graphic novel of the same name that utilizes the medium of animation to replicate the distinct visual look of its source material in a faithful manner. The story of both the graphic novel and the motion picture is comprised of following the life of Marjane she goes from being a precocious youngster into an adult who's heavily influenced by the individual countries she's grown up in. As the film starts out, Marjane (Gabriele Lopes doing the voicework of the character for this portion of the movie) is a child obsessed with Bruce Lee who is growing up in Tehran, the capital of Iran, as it goes through massive amounts of political turmoil.

Marjane grows a distrust towards the government that she garners from listening to her uncle tell tales of resisting the powers-that-be. As she grows up, Marjane (voiced by Chiara Mastroianni) keeps her rebellious streak towards the establishment alive and well even as government forces become more and more controlling towards the citizens. It becomes so bad that Marjane's parents send her away to Vienna, Austria to finish up her studies and it is here that Marjane begins to find herself in a personal crisis she she struggles to fit into a country that typically see's her not as a person but as simply an Iranian outsider. It's a daunting challenge to overcome but if there's one thing Marjane is know for, it's refusing to back away from even the most confrontational scenario.

Unlike the vast majority of non-documentary biographical dramas, Persepolis is actually directed by the real life individual its story focuses on. Marjane Satrapi is one of two directors on this film, the other being Vincent Paronnaud, and having her be such a primary influence on this project that's adapting her own graphic novel chronicling her own life means the movie is able to truly dig deep into Marjane's struggles throughout her entire life. In-movie narration allows Marjane's internal thoughts on everything from subconsciously forgetting one is living in an oppressive government regime to her own observations on she feels like such an outsider wherever she ends up living.

Such thoughts are accompanied by animation that takes full advantage of the stylized opportunities afforded by this medium of storytelling. Those expecting this to take on a more realistic design aesthetic simply because it's a drama that grapples with darker themes will be surprised by how Persepolis as a film delightfully and frequently goes whole-hog in embracing more heightened animation for certain scenes, frequently for comedic purposes such as Marjane explaining how she went through the process of puberty or reflecting on a particularly poor ex-lover. An instance where a teenage Marjane, adorned in a pro-punk music T-Shirt, is overshadowed by authority figures who loom large over her like giants also demonstrates how the stylized tendencies of the animation of this feature can also be used to accentuate more serious themes of the script, in this particular case it reinforces how daunting individuals with great power in Marjane's country could be.

The wonderful animation is accompanied by voice-over performers who bring the wonderfully written dialogue of the motion picture to stirring life. Playing the role of Marjane is Chiara Mastroianni and breathes plenty of natural life into her part, a sublime compliment to the humanistic writing of this character that all combine to ensure that the movies depiction of the real-life Marjane is a fully formed creation that the viewer will have no problem whatsoever becoming emotionally invested in. Also delivering a standout vocal turn is Daniele Darrieux as Marjane's wise grandmother and Darrieux lends the role a sage but warm & kind ambiance that really makes the character click.

Persepolis is a movie that spans a number of topics. It serves as a fascinating examination of mid-to-late 20th century Iranian political upheaval, it's a contemplation on cultural identity, it's a fantastic demonstration on the virtues of animation as a storytelling medium, but at its heart, it's the tale of one woman growing up and trying to find herself. The saga of Marjane Satrapi is what all the various themes and qualities of Persepolis revolve around and her plight ends up inspiring one helluva motion picture, one whose ability to properly utilize the advantages afforded to it by existing in the realm of animation is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of its artistic accomplishments.