What do you do when your early life is shaped by war, revolution and violence? Do you become a martyr for the homeland? Do you try to run away, escaping into the unknown? Or do you stay true to yourself and the basic human values of love, the importance of family and freedom?Marjane Satrapi, a vibrant ideologically inclined child, seemed to have chosen to follow her grandmother's sage advice and be true to her self. An already difficult task on the best of times, it becomes even harder in the face of the Islamic revolution in Iran of 1978 and the long and deadly Iran-Iraq war that broke soon after. The movie, based on her autobiographical graphic novel, continues to depict the horrors of war, the unfathomable restrictions of the new regime, lonely adventures in Europe and finally coming home, only to find living conditions there have become so spirit stifling as to depress the liveliest of souls.
In the end though, I think that these barriers of personal freedom only serve as a backdrop and catalyst to the final departure of the heroine to the West. It is the personal memories that hurt the most, so cruelly violated by the "new order", a people's revolution gone awry.
Though not directly connected to the movie, I wanted to share a wonderful Tom Brosseau song, that may help to capture some of the feelings of young Marjane.
Tom Brosseau - The Young and the Free (Live) {MP3} (from Tom Brosseau)
Persepolis trailer
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2 comments:
That's a cool trailer. Gonna try a see that.
~ C.H.
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Cool, I highly recommend this movie.
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