Persepolis

The movie Persepolis like Blue is the Warmest Color is also a coming of age film about a girl named Marjane Satrapi. Persepolis deals with the life of Marjane as she grows up during the Islamic revolution in Iran. Due to this oppression, Marjane, who is a very outspoken child, has to learn how to comply with the society she lives in. The core film technique used in this movie is animation, which was a fitting technique to use since the movie discusses dense topics such as politics, war and death. The usage of animation creates the perfect balance to represent these strong themes and makes them easier to understand and visualize, especially the grueling scenes where one of Marjane’s friends falls from a building and dies. The decision to create a black-and-white animation is extremely appealing as this makes it relatable to people everywhere and makes the story have a dream-like feel to it. Therefore, this was the best technical choice for this film as we can view Marjane’s real life story and how it shapes her throughout her life in an objective manner. Due to the animation, it is easy for a viewer to forget that the film is an autobiography and the abstract black-and-white scenes allow for the viewer to put themselves into Marjane’s shoes and think of their own actions and reactions to the unfair circumstances surrounding Marjane. Marjane trying and learning how to accept her origins and voicing her thoughts are concepts that many people have been through themselves, and watching an animated film that touches on this theme certainly helps the audience relate and insert themselves into the movie more easily.

A question I would like to ask the class is if you were in the same position as Marjane and you were sent to a foreign country would you try your hardest to fit in and be successful to make your family proud or come back home to your family?