Them Iranians never cease to amaze me, because my list of favorite Iranian movie-makers continue to grow. Every few months, I seem to come across the name of another Iranian, who makes excellent movies. Starting with Mohsen Makhmalbaf, my list grew through Abbas Kiarostami, Majid Majidi, Zafar Panahi, Samira Makhmalbaf, Bahman Farmanara, Bahman Ghobadi (OK OK, I know, he is Iranian Kurd) and now Marjane Satrapi. Damn, I hate them! Interestingly, I did not even know that this movie existed until about 72 hours ago, when I was chatting with a friend over the net, and who told me that she was going to watch this movie that day, a DVD of which she got that very day. I have faith in her taste and so went to IMDb, and found the info, and then rushed to get a copy of it.
It was a very rewarding experience. I was really so fascinated that after a while, I stopped noticing that it was an animated movie. It tells the story of Fifty years of Solitude for Iran, through the eyes of a small girl, who is forced to disown her personal God and then is forced to leave her country, to live a life that somehow resembles her dreams. This movie, like all serious Iranian movies,is full of subtlety and witty, smart dialogs. In Iranian movies, they do not go with submachine guns to mow their oppressor, but expose the situation through subtle hints and calculated nonchalance.
I'm sure, Persepolis will not be so appealing to many people. My colleagues laughed when I told them about it today. But then, they have no clue about the Iranian political scenario of the 20th century, or most such other boring and useless stuff.
Needless to say that, I am a self-proclaimed and self-certified weirdo, and my love for subtitled movies grows by day. Over the years ,I have constantly shifted my loyalty from Hollywood to Western Europe to Eastern Europe to Iran/Cuba/Argentina etc., as far as movies are concerned, and I loved this movie too. I also strongly believe all my weird friends, who loves subtitled (and subtle) movies, and movies that make them think, would love this movie.
It was a very rewarding experience. I was really so fascinated that after a while, I stopped noticing that it was an animated movie. It tells the story of Fifty years of Solitude for Iran, through the eyes of a small girl, who is forced to disown her personal God and then is forced to leave her country, to live a life that somehow resembles her dreams. This movie, like all serious Iranian movies,is full of subtlety and witty, smart dialogs. In Iranian movies, they do not go with submachine guns to mow their oppressor, but expose the situation through subtle hints and calculated nonchalance.
I'm sure, Persepolis will not be so appealing to many people. My colleagues laughed when I told them about it today. But then, they have no clue about the Iranian political scenario of the 20th century, or most such other boring and useless stuff.
Needless to say that, I am a self-proclaimed and self-certified weirdo, and my love for subtitled movies grows by day. Over the years ,I have constantly shifted my loyalty from Hollywood to Western Europe to Eastern Europe to Iran/Cuba/Argentina etc., as far as movies are concerned, and I loved this movie too. I also strongly believe all my weird friends, who loves subtitled (and subtle) movies, and movies that make them think, would love this movie.