Persepolis

I got around to seeing Persepolis (trailer) last week, a film directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Peronnaud, based on Satrapi’s best selling graphic novel. The animated movie (done in mostly high contrast black and white with the occasional appearance of color) is set mostly in Tehran beginning just before the 1979 Iranian Revolution and downfall of the Shah (Mohammed Reza Pahlavi) and follows the life of the young Satrapi and her family during this turbulent time.

The way the film goes about retelling her youth, starting with the fall of the Shah and rise of the Islamic Republic in Iran (followed by the Iran-Iraq War) is captivating. Persepolis manages to be beautiful, funny, and haunting – gripping the audience and making her life connect with those of us who have never lived through such violence and oppression.

As a child, music had a big influence on Satrapi’s life as it does on a lot of kids. One of the funnier parts of the movie is when the rebellious Marjane rocks a “Punk Is Not Ded” jean jacket over her required attire complete with Michael Jackson buttons and sporting “punk (ie. Nike)” shoes. She hits the streets in this outfit after getting a tip that vendors are selling western music on the black market. She passes a few of the vendors, turning a nose up to the Bee Gees and finally one vendor catches her ear by saying “Iron Maiden.” After bartering she finally scores the Iron Maiden cassette tape only to be caught by two women accusing her of buying music on the black market and not wearing appropriate clothing (see image above). Marjane manages to get herself out of the ordeal (narrowly escaping a beating) and get home to rock out to the Iron Maiden tape. It’s an amusing way to touch on the opression that Marjane experienced and how Michael Jackson, Nikes, punk, and Iron Maiden had become precious symbols of freedom (to her).

The film also touches on youth culture and music (post Iran-Iraq War) when Marjane returns to Tehran from a long stint in Vienna. She arrives back to Iran to find 80s western culture in full swing apparent from the way her friends dress, secret dance parties, and one particular amusing scene scored to a off-beat version of Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.”

It shouldn’t go without mentioning that the Olivier Bernet composed soundtrack is a beautiful accompaniment to the film. It varies from Serge Gainsbourg styled tracks to piano ballads to Iranian disco music. The soundtrack also features some of the movie dialogue, which is all in French, along with some instrumental arrangements and the charming Chiara Mastroianni sung “Eye of the Tiger.”

Persepolis is in theaters now and the soundtrack was released on January 15th via Caroline Records and EMI. Both are highly recommended.

[MP3]: Olivier Bernet  ”Eye of the Tiger”
Persepolis Soundtrack, Caroline Records/EMI; 2008