Persepolis I & II
Saturday, February 9th, 2008 @ 02:35
by Marjane Satrapi (2001)
An autobiographical comic/graphic novel/bande dessinée, Persepolis tells the story of Marjane Satrapi as a girl growing up in Iran around the revolution & wartime, then abroad by herself. Chronologically told, with each chapter focusing loosely on specific events, the memoir tells us more about everyday occurrences in the life of a daughter of a (relatively) priviliged, “liberal” Iranian family than about general Iranian life (the family lives comfortably even during troubled times, and Satrapi spent a good deal of her youth abroad in Vienna) or history. The illustrations are simple, basic figures, and Satrapi effectively and stylistically uses stark black and white with no greytones.
Maybe I am unfairly comparing it to Iranian films I have seen, but next to them, Persepolis feels very general, if not superficial. (I can’t help thinking of the partying liberals in Crimson Gold, and comparing Marjene to the girls and women in the Cirlce and Ten and finding her too sketchy). I am not saying that her priviliged background made her experience “less true” as an Iranian, but one feels a slight lack of depth, “speficities”. Still, the characters portrayed are believable, and the way she illustrates the story works well for all ages.
