Persepolis

Persepolis is one of those movies that has floated on the wings on rave reviews, Cannes acclaim and even an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Movie.

The kudos for the animation I get, but were it not for it's cinematic glimpse into a world seldom scene in modern films -- namely Iran -- I don't think people would have paid it as much acclaim.

It really does give a glimpse of the rot of corruption that brought down the secular republic that was Iran, and allowed the rise of the fundamentalist religious state we know so well today. By transposing all of this in the context of an educated, outspoken girl coming of age, just as the rules were changing completely around her, Marjane Satrapi attempts to personalize the journey through the eyes of a modern woman.

This is a semi-biographical tale, and I'm pretty certain that there's so much more depth to Satrapi's own straddling the Iranian-Western divide. But in the end I found myself wanting to know so much more about the things going on around her, and caring much less about her paper-thin quests for love.

It made me crave for better, perhaps darker movies that do explore Persia in the modern era. I want to better understand the follies of propping up a corrupt Shah in the face of the rising Ayatollas.

When Marjane finally shows up in color at the airport in Paris I thought there would be some third act redemption. Something to provide perspective on where she was going.

Instead the film just kinds drops her off and the credits roll. I guess if it were a summer blockbuster it would set up a sequel Persepolis in Paris or something. But it's not, and we all but ended up shrugging at the end, "That was it?" There was no real end -- something artistic films love. It makes me cringe as a movie lover. I really do tire of films that follow emotions, but forget that a tight storyline might make it all more powerful.

The real kudos for the film should be praised on the gorgeous decision to animate mainly in black and white. The cityscapes and transitions she uses are dynamic, especially as the stories of repression build. The horrors of governmental suppression and religious extremism are suitably captured in ways Iran rarely allows us on the outside to see.

If you have any interest in learning a bit more about why Iran is the country it is today Persepolis may tentatively be worth checking out.

What I really hope is that other Persian moviemakers will find ways to present the rise of modern Iran with more compelling stories.