Persepolis

I just realized that I didn't post about the 1955 Supporting actresses over at Stinkylulu, possibly because I don't really post here much, and I figure no one was reading. That's self-defeating. As always, check out supporting actresses.

And while you're at it, be very excited to see Persepolis, the new animated movie about childhood in Iran and the Islamic revolution.



Brilliant. Really. Not just the emotional resonance of the story, but the animation, which manages to stay true to the 2D comic book sense of the original while creating a 3D feeling with richness and depth. And all in black and white. There is a great use of Children's paper puppets, and a wonderful sense of the theatrical. Add in true menace, sadness, elation, confusion, and heartbreak, and you have the makings of a wonderful film. It's my pick for Oscar. I loved Ratatouille, but let's face it, it's not even in the same league. And this is no Triplets of Belleville let's nominate it as a nod to its quirkiness. This is a great film with a well told story.
I've been listening to "Reading Lolita in Tehran", and it's amazing how these two works of art work together. It might sound sexist, but I do respond to the personal in each of them. I don't know if it's because the authors are both women, but the particular oppression of women in the Islamic revolution is harrowing, and it really brings home how it must feel to have so many freedoms taken away. And also how much these two women do love their country and try to make it work. One of my friend's cousin is the author of Lolita, and is the same age as the author of Persepolis, and it really makes me feel for what her experience must have been like at such a young age. Wierdly, I have another friend who had to escape from Romania in her teens. We are so sheltered, really. And this always brings me back to the lie of revolution, or the wierd belief that there will be revolution without this kind of bloodshed. It's rare, especially when ideology takes over. We were even lucky in our revolution, probably because we were starting a new goverment in a new place, which circumvented our having to follow the rule of killing all of the original revolutionaries with half a brain and anyone who questions to make a new government. It happened with the French, the Russians, the Iranians, the list goes on and on. Interesting, too, how it was considered a Marxist revolution at first, which of course people grabbed on to. Ideas are power.
Anyhow--that's a digression. Go see the movie--you won't regret it.