Persepolis
“Persepolis” is a film like no other you may see this year. Based on a series of French-language graphic novels of the odyssey of a young Iranian woman, this animated film, devoid of computer-foolery but rich in artistry, is a worthy coming-of-age story presented in a most intriguing and attractive package (the film opened in the DC area Jan. 25; rated “PG-13,” 95 minutes running time).

“Persepolis” tells the story (basically autobiographical) of Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian woman born around 1970, who experienced the fall of the Shah of Iran and the Khomeini Revolution as a child and eventually was sent abroad to Austria to study by her parents only to return and try to make a life under the newly restrictive Islamic regime. Wholly frustrated by the latter, she, like so many before her, fled to begin a new life of freedom in the West (to France, in her case).

From the sketch of her life the film offers, we find that Satrapi’s parents were basically secular Iranians (though Muslim) who were happy to see the Shah go but ultimately just as troubled by the rules of the mullahs that came after. A voice of wisdom and sense in her life is her grandmother, no traditionalist, who encourages her granddaughter to express herself. Her family represents one among hundreds of thousands in Iran who have suffered both under the Shah’s regime and the Iranian Revolution. It is this sensible more worldly class which has produced Iranian refugee colonies by the thousands in Paris and London, in Los Angeles, New York and in Washington.

The title, by the way, is oddly misleading. “Persepolis” is an ancient sixth century BC city of the great Persian Empire left as a monumental ruin after being destroyed by Alexander the Great. The site of the film, in fact, is the current capital, Tehran. The filmmaker has said that, for her, the name implies a grand civilization that is “deeper and more complex” than present-day stereotypes of Iran, but it strikes me that the use of the title in the novel and the movie is also purely euphonic, and reminds me of the Coen Brothers calling a film “Fargo” which has no significant action in that town.

It is the way Satrapi’s story is told which is just as fascinating as its storyline. Its imagery is taken quite directly from Satrapi’s graphic novels, done almost entirely in black-and-white drawings, where the figures are simply but arrestingly drawn with faces sketched in just a few lines. Still, from those images, Satrapi and her co-director Vincent Paronnaud, another animator, have made a film of great fluidity.

“Persepolis” is built up of only drawn images, yet it exhibits cinematic effects like jump cuts, a moving camera and a most sophisticated variation of point of view and shot placement. Most strikingly, Satrapi and Paronnaud create a surprisingly lush look by the combined use of clever perspective drawings, deep and varied background shadings, and the insertion of strong silhouettes, among other effects. The co-directors and their team of 20 animators produced 80,000 drawings for this picture.

Satrapi calls her method “stylized realism” and suggests that she has been most influenced by earlier filmmaking styles such as German Expressionism and Italian neo-realism. Though done with pencil and ink, this is animation of great sophistication and strength, and – Hollywood take note – there isn’t one frame with a computer-generated image.

The voice talent (in French with English subtitles) is effective – and partly familial. Satrapi’s voice as a teenager and an adult is that of Chiara Mastroianni, daughter of Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve, who voices Satrapi’s mother, Tadji. The grandmother is voiced by another grande dame of French cinema, Danielle Darrieux (“La Ronde,” “Madame De…,” “The Red and the Black”), who was 90 when this film was being made. All perform their roles with elegance, the youngster combining poignancy as well as spunk, while the grandmother is especially effective exhibiting both warmth and worldly skepticism.

Satrapi, in an interview about the film after it was released in France, expressed hopes for her effort: “If Western audiences end up considering Iranians as human beings just like the rest of us, and not as abstract notions like ‘Islamic fundamentalists,’ ‘terrorists,’ or the ‘Axis of Evil,’” she said, “then I'll feel like I've done something. Don't forget that the first victims of fundamentalism are the Iranians themselves.”

“Persepolis” works above all because it is a true, telling human story of one dogged, curious personality seeking the wider world and finding it, even through personal pain and loss.

Oscar Race
By the time this issue of the Rag appears, the nominations for the Academy Awards will have been announced (Jan. 22). The following are a few remarks about some of the most likely contenders which you can still catch in Washington-area cinemas.

Similar in their chilly, harsh beauty are two Western-based pictures with a touch of nihilism which have been favorites of the critics: “No Country for Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood.” Both feature spellbinding performances, the first with Javier Bardem as an unrelenting hitman and the second with Daniel Day-Lewis scraping the screen raw with his portrayal of an obsessed oil baron.

In the lighter vein, there are the outstanding acting turns by both Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney in “The Savages” (reviewed in last month’s issue) as estranged siblings who come together to tend to their failing father. Hoffman, by the way, might also be nominated for his robust turn as a CIA operative in the very lively “Charlie Wilson’s War.” Then there is young Ellen Page, a standout in the title role of “Juno” as a pregnant teen who is both very charming and very arch. Both “Savages” and “Juno” have original scripts by female screenwriters – Tamara Jenkins and Diablo Cody – who could be cited by the Academy.

For those with more literary tastes, there is the fine adaptation of the novel “Atonement,” with a considered, lavish look at pre- and post-war England, including a stunning set-piece of the evacuation of Dunkirk. Likewise, “The Kite Runner” is a thoughtful, faithful adaptation of the major best seller about an Afghan man’s redemption which highlights a wonderfully recreated pre-Taliban Kabul seen through the eyes of two charming kids.

Finally, a shout-out for “Michael Clayton,” which came out in October but was re-released on Jan. 25 in time for many more Academy voters to see it. This smart and polished legal thriller has one of the best scripts of the year (Tony Gilroy, who also directed), and a cast that could include three nominees: George Clooney (as Clayton), Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton – all superb. Here’s hoping you catch up with some of the above winners.

Films on the Hill
The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop’s “Films on the Hill” series continues in February with a little-seen “An American Guerrilla in the Philippines” (1950), a World War II tale of a lone US Navy lieutenant (Tyrone Power) who stays behind in the evacuation to organize and lead a resistance unit in the Japanese-controlled Philippines. Shot in Technicolor on location in the Philippines by the great Fritz Lang, it will be shown Feb. 20.

Earlier in the month, Feb. 13, comes “Man of Conquest” (1939) with Richard Dix, Gail Patrick and Joan Fontaine. This production tells the tale of the troubled partnership between Andrew Jackson and Sam Huston that led to the birth of the Republic of Texas.

On Feb. 27, the series will feature a double bill of silent films which address contemporary stories and themes: “The Man Who Had Everything” (1920) and “Orchids and Ermine” (1927) starring Colleen Moore as the working girl who sets her sights on an oil tycoon. Both films will have recorded musical accompaniment.