Persepolis: Comic and Film that inject blood in the veins of society

 

“One can forgive but one should never forget”

The double-faced reality of freedom

“Persepolis” is an autobiographical comic graphic novel by the Iranian-French author Marjane Satrapi, which has been turned into a movie directed by Satrapi herself. Persepolis includes two books, the first one is called “Persepolis: the story of a childhood”, which was published in 2000 and “Persepolis: the story of a return” (2004). Also, these two comics could have comprised a new genre, as the well known feminist journalist and social political activist Gloria Steinem once stated. The film presents events that are detected in both books, it was released in 2007 and was nominated for the Oscar of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Comic: 

The first comic presents the early life of the marxist, but deeply religious at the same time, Marjane in Iran from age 6 to 14. In these years, apart from her adolescence, Marjane had to face some of the most important events that have etched the contemporary history of Iran. The overthrow of the Shah (the last emperor of Iran), the Islamic Revolution (the violent and repressive period between the overthrow of the Shah and the establishment of a republic) and the war against Iraq represent the perfect background for this tale of hope. The comic ends with the departure of Marjane to Vienna, Austria, in 1983, where she could have a better future, as her parents claimed. 

The second comic describes her life in Vienna, where she faces adolescent problems and due to her inability to speak German and because of her origins she clashes with the sensation of being inadequate. She has issues with her friendships and relationships and struggles to adapt to her new life. The comic analyses the feelings of Marjane that lives in the perennial contrast of knowing that she is lucky she lives in a safe country but at the same time she feels alone and unable to help her beloved ones. Moreover, a love disappointment has such a strong impact on her that she becomes homeless as well as she hardly dies due to a disease. After her health experience, Marjane decides to go back to Iran, but her situation hasn’t improved. Although in Europe she was seen as a overly religious old fashioned foreigner, in Iran she was a lucky and innocent westerner. As a consequence of this discrepancy, she understood that no one in the world could understand her and she suffered from depression and almost committed suicide. Fortunately, she manages to overcome her struggles, deciding to take action in her life and giving exams to get into a university and study illustration. Furthermore, she marries her boyfriend, just to realise, a year later, that their love is over. So, she gets a divorse and leaves Iran to go to France. The story of the second book ends with the departure of her to France and the reader is granted with a last phrase to end the chronicle: “Freedom always has a price”. 

Film:

In the film, all these events are described using monologues and flashbacks, as the episodes take place in the memory of Marajane while she is at a French airport. It is most likely that she had visited this airport to return once more to Iran, but the flashbacks gave her the chance to remember her life and finally decide that Iran is actually not an option for her as her mother had stated. Therefore, in the end while she catches a cab to return to her house in France,  she proudly affirms the driver, with great dignity that she is an Iranian. She narrates her life in a chronological order, without omitting almost anything from her story. The large amount of the events that are described in these 93 minutes of revelation is the reason why the movie may be quite complicated to understand. However, it’s a full immersion in another reality (especially the first part in Iran that depicts many political issues).

Comic vs Film:

Both versions of the story describe the events with the same tension, as well as with the same bittersweet sense of humor and irony. In addition, it’s one of the very few times that the film adaptation is, in our opinion, equally good as the original comic and each one of them has different advantages. In the film, the same wonderful simple sketches of Satrapi gain motion, music, tension and voice that can represent in a better way the well known French humor, as well as embrace it nicely with the simplicity of Iranian movies.The decision of proceeding with the use of animation to bring to life this rough story is on point, especially considering the contrast created by white and black images. On the other hand, the comic offers the readers the chance to read the story at their own pace and of course includes more details, explanations and side stories than the film.

If you have read the comic you’ll find double enjoyment in watching the movie. It’s about feeling it under your skin.