3) Persepolis
Never have the simplistic shades of black and white had more of a striking, bold effect than with Persepolis – an eerie, powerful and intermittently witty movie based on the graphic novel of the same name compiled by Marjane Satrapi.
Assembled by a hat-trick of nations in Iran, France and America, the film’s aesthetics are faintly reminiscent of Ari Folman’s Waltz With Bashir, substituting the luminous colors of the war documentary for a more crude, noir-like touch. Another comparison to be made with Folman’s film is how Persepolis continually borders on the surreal, occasionally resembling a haunting vision and other times mesmerizing beauty.
Told from the perspective of its writer, Persepolis is an autobiographical tale of a young girl growing up in her native country of Iran during the events of the Islamic Revolution in the late 1970’s. Gentle humor protrudes from the simplistic imagery as Satrapi reflects on her early life as a blissful time, before her adoration of Western culture became ridiculed and considered sacrilege. Her parents send her away to live in Vienna, but there she encounters too much liberation and freedom for her to handle. Despite her love of Western pop music and imagery, the family values she grew up with are too deeply ingrained for her to truly embrace the free nature of Europe. Suddenly, she becomes a girl without a home – stranded on her own isolated island.
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2007, Persepolis was deservedly recognized for its audaciousness and remains one of the most deeply moving graphic novel adaptations ever thrown up to the big screen.