GRAPHIC NOVELS

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- Marc Jousset, art designer, Persepolis

BY MARIAN QUIGLIY

Drawing onExperience;^

Animation as^History in

HE film Persepolis(Marjane Satrapiand VincentParonnaud, 2007)is a close adapta-tion of Marjane

Satrapi's two-part graphie novel. Thebooks have sold over a million copiesworldwide, while the film won the JuryPrize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007and was nominated for Best AnimatedFilm at the 2008 Academy Awards.Underlying the success of both the noveland the film are Satrapi's strong narrativeand evocative graphics. The use of

traditional 2D black-and-white animationmethods is true to the book's originalgraphics {Satrapi did the drawings forboth) and is a refreshing change from the3D, computer-generated films which tendto dominate cinema screens today and inwhich technical spectacle can some-times take precedence over storytelling.

We had to start from scratch, to createsomething altogether different but withthe same material... People generallyassume that a graphic novel is like a

movie storyboard, which of course is notthe case. With graphic novels, therelationship between the writer and thereader is participatory. In film, theaudience is passive. It involves motion,sound, music, so therefore the narrative'sdesign and content is very different.^

- Marjane Satrapi

Persepolis follows a long-establishedtradition of historical and fact-basedcomic book narratives^ such as ArtSpiegelman's Maus (first published inbook form in 1986) - a biographicalaccount of the Holocaust - whichinfluenced Satrapi's decision to becomea graphic novelist:

Graphic novels are not traditionalliterature, but that does not mean theyare second-rate. Images are a way ofwriting. When you have the taient to beable to write and to draw it seems ashame to choose one. I think it's better todo both.'

Persepolis is both an autobiography of ayoung girl growing up in Iran from the1970s to the 1990s and a history of thatcountry's turmoil and repressive regimesduring that period. The title is taken fromthe name of the Persian capital founded inthe sixth century BC by Darius I and laterdestroyed by Alexander the Great, andserves as a timely reminder of this formergrand civilization. As Satrapi explains:

Since the Shah fled to escape the Islamicrevolution in 1979, this old and greatcivilization has been discussed mostly inconnection with fundamentalism,fanaticism and terrorism. As an Iranianwho has iived more than half of my life inIran, I know that this image is far from thetruth. This is why writing Persepolis wasso important to me. I believe that anentire nation should not be judged by thewrongdoings of a few extremists ...^

Persepolis I is set in Tehran and depictsthe overthrow of the Shah's regime, thecoming of the Islamic Revolution and thebeginning of Iran's eight-year war withIraq as experienced by Marjane (voicedin the film by Chiara Mastroianni), orMarji, and her family; it ends with her

F; MARJANE AND HER GRANDMOTHER

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parents' {voiced by Catherine Deneuveand Simon Abkarian) decision to sendher away from Tehran to Austria to continueher education in safety, Persepolis IIdescribes her struggle to assimilate, bothin Vienna and then in Iran following herreturn, and ends with her decision tomove to France. As Satrapi explains;

In the first book, I lived the revolution andthe war ...In the second book, when I gointo exile, my will and wish of beingintegrated into a new culture is so bigthat I have to forget about who I am andwhere I come from.^

The film differs from the novels in that itcomprises a long flashback sandwichedbetween the opening and closing scenes- both of which are set at Orly Airport inFrance and are animated in colour. Thiswas done to convey 'a sense of distance,of nostalgia for the story' which is aboutexile.^ In the opening sequence of thefilm, a homesick Marjane, now a youngwoman, dons a headscarf in preparationfor a trip to Iran. (She later removes itand doesn't take the flight.) In contrast,the book opens in Iran in 1980 when, asa result of the 1979 Islamic Revolution,ten-year-old Marjane and her femaleschoolmates are forced to wear thechador at school. In each case, the veil/covering is a symbol of repression - par-ticularly of Iranian women. The markedcontrast between the doleful image ofMarjane and that of the Western womanapplying lipstick beside her in the airportrestroom signifies the division betweenthe two cultures with which Marjane is tostruggle throughout her lifetime.

Autobiography and historyPersepolis is a dark comedy whichcentres on Marjane, a feisty young girlwhose main aims when she grows up areto shave her legs and to become 'the lastprophetess'. Her rebellious nature and

unquenchable thirst for knowledge arefostered by her parents - communistactivists who encourage her to thinkfor herself and express her opinions -and by her grandmother (voiced byDanielle Darrieux) - a blaspheming,pipe-smoking divorcee of strong moralconvictions with whom Marjane retains aclose relationship throughout her life. It isher grandmother who invests her withthe ideals of 'integrity' and remaining trueto herself. She chides her granddaughterfor using an innocent man to escapefrom the mullahs (Islamic clerics),reminding her that her uncle and grand-father gave their lives to protect theinnocent. The importance of her grand-mother is emphasized by the film's finalscene: a black screen accompanied by avoice-over of Marjane's conversationwith her grandmother (shown earlier inthe film on the eve of Marjane's depar-ture for Austria) who explains that sheputs jasmine flowers in her bra every dayin order to smell sweet.

The film's main comic elements areassociated with Marjane's acts of rebellion.Her love of Western popular culture seesher bartering with black marketeers for acopy of an Iron Maiden tape and donning ajacket emblazoned with the proclamation'Punk is not ded'. She has eveningconversations with God and Karl Marx andconsistently displays courage in standingup to authority; teachers, mullahs, nuns,housekeepers - and God.

However, these light-hearted momentsdo not dispel the film's evocation of thefear and tragedy that continue topermeate the family's lives. The Shah'sregime is one of brutal repression, andmembers of Marjane's family are arrest-ed, tortured and sometimes executed aspolitical prisoners because of their leftistideals. Her neighbours are killed whentheir apartment block is bombed duringthe Iran-Iraq War. The Islamic Revolution

results in an even more repressive regimewhich results in more deaths. Alcohol isbanned and couples are not evenpermitted to hold hands in public.

Women, including Marjane and hermother, are subjected to strict religiousconformist conventions regarding femalebehaviour and dress. Even femalemodels in the life drawing classesMarjane attends are fully covered.Women who wear make up or who fail tocover their heads are 'whores'. Onlyvirgins are safe from execution - so thosewho fail to comply with regulations areforced to marry the Guardians of theRevolution, who take their virginity, thenexecute them.

Young boys either become Guardians ofthe Revolution who patrol the streets toenforce the repressive laws or areenticed to become so Id i er-martyrs with aplastic key which will supposedly givethem entry to Heaven. A former windowcleaner becomes a hospital director whodecides the fate of his patients, claimingthat it is subject to 'God's will'. Whenregimes change, former heroes becomeenemies; one teacher tells Marjane thatthe Shah was chosen by God; later,another instructs her and her classmatesto tear pictures of the royal family fromtheir textbooks.

Oppression and extremism are notlimited to Iran, however, as Marjanediscovers during her exile in Europe.Iranians are viewed as 'savages' (so thatMarjane at one point pretends that she isFrench) and sexual freedom can result inexploitation. Her newfound anarchistfriends in Vienna spout empty slogansand lack the strong familial bonds thatMarjane is used to. After her boyfrienddeceives her, she becomes homelessand eventually ends up in hospital. AsMarjane explains to an Iranian friend,'You can die in the West and nobody

cares.' She notes with irony that shesurvived a revolution and a war but it waslove that nearly killed her.

Marjane returns to a 1990s post-warTehran which resembles a 'cemetery' andwhere 'everyone is looking for happinessso much they forgot they weren't free'.Her lack of sense of belonging in herformer homeland and her failed marriagetriggers a bout of depression which isovercome when she decides to move toFrance. In the film's last scene, theFrench taxi driver asks her where she'sfrom - 'Iran' is her reply. We are remind-ed that she removed the veil in theopening scene of the film - although sherefuses to accept her homeland's repres-sive laws and lives in exile, ultimately shereclaims her Iranian identity.

Questions of technique'The novels have been a worldwidesuccess because the drawings areabstract, black-and-white. I think thishelped everybody to relate to it ...'^

- Marjane Satrapi

The decision to make an animated,rather than live-action, film was so as notto lose the universal appeal of the story.Satrapi describes the style of the film as'stylized realism' incorporating 'down-to-earth, realistic scenes, and a highlydesign-oriented approach, with imagessometimes bordering on the abstract'.^ Itis influenced by live-action films,including German expressionism andItalian neo-realism, along with 'the fastpace of Scorsese's Goodfellas [MartinScorsese, 1990]' and employs 'movie-style editing, with a great many jump-cuts'.'" An example of this is the fastpanning shot as Marjane races home

to her bombed street in search ofher family.

The film includes 600 characters - thefronts and profiles of which Satrapi drew.These were then developed by the film'sdesigners and animators, aided by film ofSatrapi acting out the scenes. Altogether,the film comprises approximately 80,000drawings for around 130,000 imageswhich is not unusual for traditionalhand-drawn animation. The characters'voices were recorded prior to filming sothat the animation, motions and facial ex-pressions matched the actors' dialogueand acting.

Because the decision had been made touse sheer black and white for the charac-ters, grey shades were used for thebackground scenes of Tehran andVienna. Although traditional, hand-paint-ed methods were used, digital composit-ing (rather than superimposing severalimages using celluloid) was used tocombine images from several sources inorder to create a single shot.

The film also utilized traditionaltraoe animators. Pascal Cheveof animation studio Pumpkin3D explains why:

/ was essential to betrue to Marjane's line.An animation studiois a team of over100 people, allwith their ownstyle. An animatorwill be more focused ontrying to make the character move in theright way Assistant animators will then putthe finai touches to the drawings, to makesure they're true to the original. Then tiie

'Peoplegenerallyassume that agraphic novelis like a moviestoryboard,which ofcourse is notthe case'

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ALL IMAGES FROM PERSEPOLIS I

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GRAPHIC NOVELS

The austerity of the images is both relevantto the story and a metaphor for the black-and-white viewpoints of extremists.

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'irace' team comes in, arid they work oneach drawing with a quill pen, a paint-brush or, (as was the case here), a felt pen,to ensure that they are consistent with theline that runs through the movie.'*''

The austerity of the images is both relevantto the story and a metaphor for theblack-and-white viewpoints of extremists.It also serves to heighten the film'sdramatic moments: the silhouettes of armytanks and soldiers wearing gas masks inwartime; the white heads of the executedIranian political prisoners as they fall to theground; Marjane's illuminated head andface as she lies submerged in the black-ness of depression.

Throughout the film, music 'plays a crucialrole; it connects the sequences and givesunity to the film'.'^ Four different musicalatmospheres are utilized to delineate thefour major parts of the film. The first twouse mainly string instruments to create asober atmosphere. The dream scenes/dialogues with God feature a piano and afew strings, while 'Iranian disco' music isused for the disco scene. Lively musicaccompanies Marjane's delight ondiscovering the well-stacked shelves in Vi-enna's supermarkets but this is repeatedlike a 'scratched record' to depict herensuing boredomJ^ The height of comicalexpression is attained with Marjane'spoorly sung rendition of 'Eye of the Tiger'(synonymous with Rocky III [SylvesterStallone, 1982]). which marks Marjane'srecovery from depression and heremancipation (she shaves her legs) while,at the same time, mocking facets of West-ern popular culture.

Persepolis is successful as an autobiog-raphy which conveys a girl's love for herfamily, and as a historical narrative whichprovides insight into an often misrepre-sented people. Moreover, it demonstratesthe efficacy of traditional animationtechniques in engaging audiences.

Dr Marian Quigiey is an i-ionorary Re-search Feilow, Monash University, and acurator for australianscreen. Her bookWomen Do Animate: Interviews with 10Australian Animators was pubiished byInsight Publicatior)s in 2005.

Endnotes1 jousset quoted in interview by

Jean-Pierre Lavoignat, March-April2007, in Persepoiis production notes.

^ Satrapi quoted in ibid.^ Joseph Witek. Comic Books as

History: The Narrative Art of JackJackson, Art Spiegeiman and HarveyPekar, University Press of Mississippi,1989, pp.96-97.

'' Marjane Satrapi, 'On WritingPersepolis', Pantheon GraphicNovels, , accessed 22July 2008.

^ Marjane Satrapi,'Introduction',Persepoiis: TheStory of aChildhoodand the

Story of a Return, Vintage. 2008.Satrapi quoted in Dave Weich,'Marjans Satrapi Returns'. Powells.com . accessed 22July 2008.Vincent Parannaud quoted inLavoignat, op. cit.Satrapi quoted in Lavoignat, ibid.ibid.Paronnaud quoted in Ibid.Cheve quoted in ibid.ibid.Composer Qliver Bernetquoted in ibid.

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