Movies You Should See: Persepolis

Before I get into this particular movie, and why I think the community should see it, let me stress that I am not in any way associated with the production or the marketing for this movie.  I'm just the filmgeek, I swear.

However, I believe that most of what comes out of Hollywood is beneath my contempt.  No offense to anyone, but Transformers?  I liked them when I was five, sure, but a Micheal Bay flick.  Bereft of ideas much?

So I am taking it upon myself to lobby, if you will, for certain movies I am looking forward to, particularly if they have even a tangental relationship with the interests of this site.  I'm bringing the site's ethos to media: if you want better movies, you gotta fight for them.

You might have to go look for these films in your local arthouse, but at least you won't be seeing Fred Clause.  Today we're talking about Persepolis.

Persepolis is the story of an independent, young Muslim girl who comes of age during the Islamic Revolution of 1979.  It is based on the graphic novel autobiography of  Marjane Satrapi, who also writes and directs, along with Vincent Paronnaud.  The great coup of the film is that it retains the visual style of Satrapi's original work, using black and white animation to tell the story.

It is important for America to see this movie.  At a time when anti-Islamic rhetoric runs high, it will be good for the nation to see the rise of Khomeini through the eyes of a decent, liberal minded Muslims.  

From Entertainment Weekly:

In the subtitled film, a precocious girl grows up in Tehran during the '70s and '80s, when the Shah was overthrown by radical Muslims led by the Ayatollah Khomeini. The fallout? Females had to don veils, schools became vessels for propaganda, and some of the Satrapis' loved ones were executed. ''All this injustice...[made] me extremely angry,'' said Satrapi, who now lives in Paris. ''The only way to escape...was to laugh.''

Yes, this film is in French.  I hope we get that version, and not the dubbed one.

Right now, Persepolis scores a 100% at Rotten Tomatoes.  It earned the Jury Prize at Cannes, and was the Most Popular Film at the Vancouver Film Festival.  It is slated for limited release on Christmas, and those of us who don't live in New York or L.A. will get it after the New Year.

I will be there.  I hope you will be too.