Persepolis: Iran According to a (former) Iranian

An autobiography of Marjane Satrapi, whom I call a liberal Iranian woman (now lives in Paris), in a graphical black and white novel.

In fact, I was introduced to this book first in 2004 when I visited Karim, my best friend, in Beirut. He strongly recommended it. But I did not bother to buy them until it was recently adapted to an animated movie early last year (directed by Marjane herself and Vincent Parronaud). It immediately received a huge success in France, critically acclaimed and awared le prix de jury at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival last year. Now, it is on its way trying its luck at this year's Oscar.

I personally found the book interesting (Dita gave it to me as my birthday present). Whilst reading it, my mind drifted back to the years 2003-2005 during which I traveled quite frequently between Dubai and different parts of Iran for my recruiting job. I visited the universities and colleges in different towns and met a lot of Iranians. Although I never really lived in there, but my regular visits in the past allowed me to learn about their rich cultures, the people, the history and a little bit of politics. When I read Persepolis, it felt like I was having a deja vue. I feel like someone else has already told me a similar tale about Iran before. Yes,everything is similar to what I saw and heard back then. The black veils, the 'guardians', the satellite dish story, the underground party and so forth. In fact, I now have a few good friends from Iran.

During my visit, I always felt sorry for the people out there and for the current social and economical situations there. Persia used to be an extremely rich and well respected country. People lived in a good standard of living. They are rich of natural resources, including oil, but the classic question is "where has the money gone?" The gap between the rich and the pool is extremely huge! (You will find the rich Iranians investing in The Palm Dubai or living in LA. They even have a Persian tv channel over there! Many migrated to Canada or Scandinavia.)

Wandering around Iran, you feel like you are in the 60's. The infrastructure, the vehicles... how they look obsolete. Old local manufactured cars dominate the polutted streets. But you can still see old models of Peugeot or Citroen quite often. Many Japanese, Korean and French products benefit from the US embargo policy.

First impression about the people: they are very welcoming, although within the two-year time span I had a few bad impressions with some of them (I don't blame them for being too prejudice though). As I said, I have now some nice and warm-hearted Iranian friends. Once they know you well, they will respect the relationships.

Now, back to the book. In fact, Persepolis has nothing to do with its content. The setting was mainly in Tehran (and Vienna). Persepolis is the ancient name of Shiraz (historically famous for the wine) which I have visited once. Incredible Romanian ruins and some tombs of the Persian kings. Amongst the Iranian cities, I like Esfahan most. Very rich of cultures with some picturesque bridges.

The book is extremely entertaining with a lot of irony about the suppressed life in Iran. Marjane, an art graduate, has a unique way of storytelling through the black and white graphics. I then learned how comics can be the most effective way to convey a biography, particularly that of someone unheard of before, like Marjane). The only thing I do not agree is the way she depicts God in the book (I think she's way too liberal on this).

After finishing the book, we watched the dvd only last week. Like many books that were brought into big screens, most are disapppointing. Persepolis is unexceptional. Even though I admire the unique animation (the graphics are better than those in the book), 85 minutes seem a bit too short to convey every single thing from the book. As a result, you will find several parts have intentionally been omitted. Those who never read the book before perhaps will find it rather confusing.

Nevertheless, Persepolis is a breakthrough for animation movies, autobiographies and the people of Iran, although I personally doubt the movie itself will ever openly be out at cinemas in Iran. Apparently, Marjane seems more optimistic. She cited in one of the interviews that the people in Iran will find a way to watch her movie, even if it means to get it through a black market (as usual... like all banned Western music or movies).

Un chapeau pour Marjane Satrapi (a heavy smoker with a mole on her nose)! Bonne chance a Oscar!

You can find two inspiring interviews with Marjane here and here.