Persepolis Analysis

Persepolis (2007)

Written and Directed by: Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud
Based on an autobiographical graphic novel of the same name.
Premiered at 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

It's a coming-of-age story of a young girl set in the backdrop of Iranian Revolution. Let's forget the political and social commentary for a moment, and let's see how beautiful a premise this is for a story. I love it, when there is a mix of moods - here, one is a sweet, nice, coming-of-age story, but the setting is very intense, it has war, revolution, etc. going on. This makes for a bittersweet tone, exactly like real life. Real life is mostly never cheery, or sad. It's mostly bittersweet. Sweet on the outside, bitter in the inside. The film not only manages to take political stances, like vouching for liberation, and more but it also shows us how life is like otherwise. Although she comes from a progressive family, we can still see what kind of a milieu this is. Because for us, all these things might seem so normal - but when we know that in some parts of the world, even today in 2021, even small things are such a big deal. That is the reality that the film makes us feel and experience. 

The grandmother is a nice mentor figure to the girl. It's of course, interesting when there is a conflict between the grandmother and Marji - like when Marji tells her that she lied to the cops that someone misbehaved with her and that she had no choice; but the sheer profoundness of her advice, makes it interesting otherwise too. The way the film progresses, there is a lot of life happening - she witnesses people die, she moves to a country, she moves back to her home and such films which show a lot of life happening - I immediately get the vibe of an epic. Forrest Gump. Boyhood. For me, nothing is more dramatic than us seeing life happening to characters, which is why perhaps coming-of-age is my favorite genre in film to watch and write too.