Persepolis Review

Many say that it is impossible to recreate any piece of writing into a film successfully. The written word has too much detail and too many twists and turns to fit eloquently into a movie that runs at most, a little over two hours. Does this include graphic novels?
A step up from the classic comic book, graphic novels are longer and can contain topics that surpass the humorous Calvin and Hobbes or sci-fi superheroes. Far more advanced than I ever imagined, some of these lengthy comics have been known to entertain their readers with historical events.
My first experience with graphic novels came in the form of Persepolis. The author, Marjane Satrapi, describes growing up in Iran during its deadly revolution. At first glance, I didn’t think the topic would be thoroughly explained. Textbooks have trouble describing this intricately confusing event, so how could a comic book, of all things, get the point across? Satrapi definitely answered that question with detailed explanations through the eyes of a young girl. We traveled through little Marji’s life and follow along as she carries on a normal childhood until this national event makes her a prisoner of her own country and faith.
The theatrical adaptation was as true to the original piece as possible and I enjoyed it as much as I could while ignoring the fact that I don’t speak French. On the other hand, I feel like being forced to read the subtitles encouraged me to keep my focus and fully grasped what was going on. There is something to be said about “seeing” what is said.
The film was spot on with the novel’s graphics and dialogue, but there was one portion that was slightly different, and in my opinion, better. The playful way they portrayed the history of how the Iranian Shah came to power was an easy scene to laugh at. Instead of the original fluid motions of the novel, they depict the political players as puppets on strings that make their actions seem less intense than their realities.
Although Marji’s quick wit and spunky personality was apparent in the novel, we get a chance to see her in action – literally. It was nice to witness her bustling about while stating her opinion on the current crisis to whoever would listen. Being able to see a scene fully played out also helps the audience either confirm their perception of the situation, or arouse new insight about it. There were a couple moments from the movie that I played out differently in my mind while I read the novel. I liked having another view to compare mine with.
I would throw out som negative critiques, but I really don’t have much to say. Of course I would have loved to see more of the smaller subplots played out in the film, but like I said before, it isn’t possible. No one can sit through hours upon hours of the Iranian Revolution.
All in all, the move from graphic novel to film was done extremely well in my book. I wanted to immediately go out and grab the sequel!