Animation definitely should not be limited to U.S. animation and anime.
>I caught Persepolis during a PACKED 7 pm screening at Bethesda Row
>near Washington, DC (at least 100 folks, maybe 150). The audience of
>(aged from teens to retirees) seemed to really dig it.
I just saw it in Atlanta at the Landmark theater. Around 3/4 full in
the afternoon. The film was a big crowdpleaser. The gags got big laughs from
the audience, especially for the blackmarket pop music scene, the "Eye of the
Tiger" scene, and the replay of Marjane's memories of her romance.
"Persepolis" will be coming to Columbia, SC. But not until 3/3.
http://www.nickelodeon.org/movie_detail.php?movieID=299
It may come out in Charlotte in February, but people there are not sure.
>[+] Elegant animation. Even if you don't like the simple
>illustrations, you have to admire the fluidity and expressiveness of
>the animation.
Whenever the scene went mostly black, the screen bled into the blackness
of the theater. The characters in the scene, like Marjane falling through her
depression, then take a 3-D effect, without any need for glasses. I sometimes
thought I was looking down a tunnel.
>[+] Character and production designs are MUCH better than the
>admittedly crude drawings in the original graphic novel. Grade-school-
>aged Marjane has a darling little smile, much like the Peanuts
>characters.
The crowd loved little Marjane, cutest kid not of Japanese origin. :-)
The first third of the movie was defined by her innocent understanding of the
world around her. For instance in that scene where they go after that kid
for having a father involved in torture, you could tell that they don't really
mean what they were saying. I don't think a live action kid would've conveyed
innocence as charismaticly as a cartoon Marjane. ( Hmm, I need to go watch
"The White Baloon". )
About that scene.: Many of Marjane's family members had been communists,
such as the Uncle Anoush whom she idolizes. When she apologized to that boy,
reasoning that he couldn't be faulted for his father's crimes, the boy retorted
that his father "was a good man! He only hurt communists!". That boy was as
innocent as Marjane, and he wanted to defend the people he cared for. Marjane
had a memorably baffled look on her face, trying to rectify her perspective
with his. Big affectionate laugh from the crowd here.
>[-] The film's structure is based on narration, lengthy flashbacks,
>and vignettes. The resulting flow is sometimes disjointed and often
>distancing. Rather than empathizing with Marjane's emotions, I often
>felt as though I was skimming through a checklist of Major Life
>Events. The story feels more like a bus tour of Marjane's young life
>than a truly heartfelt journey.
The film also tried to be a primer for Iranian political history. Scenes
went into detail over the ascension of the Pahlavis and the background for the
Iran-Iraq war. Now that information may be important to know. But those
scenes came out dry. I also felt distanced. Also, the film had so many
characters that I had trouble keeping track of them. The result was that I
didn't feel any emotional investment in the characters. Many of Marjane's
friends and family wind up hurt or killed, but my reactions were mostly, "Who
was that person again?".
The exception was Marjane's grandma. I loved her sharp wit and affection
for her granddaughter.
>[-] Unlike Triplettes of Belleville (Belleville Romdezvous), which was
>nearly silent, this film is ALL talk. The narration and dialogue,
>while sometimes sharp, seemed too excessive to me. Aside from the
>aforementioned silent passages, the film is largely content to SPEAK
>OF its story, rather than SHOW it.
Precisely. Many of these scenes could've been done without the voiceover
narration.
>[-] This 90-minute film tries to cover way too much ground.
I think it was closer to two hours. At least it felt like it. I was
exhausted by the end of the film.
At the start of the movie, kid age Marjane has the ambition about being
the "last prophet of the galaxy". She also has conversations with God, who's
actually drawn onscreen in the traditional Western style. I suspect that along
with the critical comments of the current regime, these scenes have probably
irked the current government. Religious hardliners probably wouldn't have
much of a sense of humor about these scenes. ;-)
Also note that the movie criticizes the West for its behind the scenes
involvement in the Iran-Iraq War, and spends as much time condemning the Shah's
regime as it does the current theocracy. So Marjane has a broad range of
political comments that you might not expect from the trailers or the news
articles. Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi makes a couple of cameos. But curiously
enough, Ayatulloh Khomeini never appears.
>So... I'll give it the [B] grade overall. Good, but not great
>(Ratatouille, Belleville).
B+/A- A very charming movie, but not one that enthralled me, like how
"Ratatouille" and "Enchanted" did to me this year.
- Juan F. Lara
"Grandma, how do you keep your breasts so round at your age?"
"Every night I soak them in ice water for an hour."
