Interview. Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud.

"Persepolis is a simple story told by simple means," writes AO Scott in the New York Times. "Like Marjane Satrapi's book, on which it is based, the film, directed by Ms Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, consists essentially of a series of monochrome drawings, their bold black lines washed with nuances of gray. The pictures are arranged into the chronicle of a young girl's coming of age in difficult times, a tale that unfolds with such grace, intelligence and charm that you almost take the wondrous aspects of its execution for granted."

At the main site, David D'Arcy talks with Satrapi and Paronnaud about the importance of humor, perils of miserabilisme, the current state of comics and animation, and the ways the world sees (and often misunderstands) Iran.

Updated through 12/28.

"The pleasingly simple, hand-drawn characters, and flat, often abstractly patterned backgrounds show the influence of everything from Charles Schulz to German Expressionism to Persian miniature painting to shadow puppetry," writes Dana Stevens in Slate. "But the resulting mood is never cerebral or self-consciously postmodern. The story of Marjane's coming of age has the emotional directness (a cynic might call it sentimentality) of a classic of adolescent literature, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn or The Catcher in the Rye."

"A familiar story set in an unfamiliar context, it's a paean to the universality of human experience, a testament to the endurance of individuality during great political and fanatical upheaval, and a reminder that even the most complex situations, identities and stories are heartbreakingly simple," writes Carina Chocano in the Los Angeles Times.

"In his review of Persepolis in the current issue of Cineaste, my colleague Rahul Hamid nails what bugged me about the film, a wholly worthwhile endeavor that I enjoyed watching despite a creeping dissatisfaction," writes Robert Cashill. "Rahul says the books are much more time- and place-specific; the film is more of a gloss, humorous and poignant, but too simple, more of a primer. The Western, 'just-like-us' side of the film dominates."

Matt Singer talks with Satrapi and Paronnaud for IFC News.

This entry'll pick up where last Tuesday's entry leaves off; earlier: reviews from Cannes, Toronto and New York.

Update, 12/26: "[B]y some strange and fortunate circumstance born out of vision, patience, luck, and sheer unmitigated talent, [Satrapi and Parannoud] have managed to incorporate each of [the books'] weighty topics into a work of art that's light as a feather, in the manner of the true masterpiece," writes Chris Barsanti at filmcritic.com.

Updates, 12/28: "At times, the film Persepolis resembles a succession of moving political posters, graphically simple and profound; and at times, it's like an old UPA cartoon, cutesy and funny," writes Noel Murray at the AV Club. "Though there's a bit too much 'and then this happened' to the structure, Paronnaud and Satrapi succeed smashingly in translating the original's spirit into animation."

"As one of the great things about the world of an animated film is that it's a totally created one, there's not even a hint of the disconnect that would have been unavoidable in a live-action picture," writes Premiere's Glenn Kenny. "[T]he story brims with incident and pertinence. As awful as the things that happen in it are, the viewer is happy to be in its world anyway, because Satrapi is such a companionable guide through it."

"Everyone who hasn't read Persepolis should see it, and anyone who's felt misery or shame about America's place in the world lately will probably come out comforted; in me, at least, the film induced a profound gratitude for life in a free society," writes Peter Smith at Nerve. "Yes, this decade has been a bit of a hell-ride, government-wise, but trust Satrapi: things could be a lot worse."

Posted by dwhudson at December 25, 2007 11:41 AM