An Intriguing Tale: Persepolis

Persepolis
Directed by Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi
Released December 25, 2007

France's entry for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars is an often fascinating, interestingly-told story of a young girl with strong opinions growing up in Iran. Without the use of impressive animation, I doubt this film would have been noticed at all. Yet it is precisely the style that makes this story compelling. While I had some personal problems with some of the choppy transitions and the generally abrupt ending, there are definitely some moments that I loved. This is your not typical animated film, separate even from this year's good ones (like "Bee Movie" and "Ratatouille"). It is reminiscent of a number of recent films, thematically similar to "Pan's Labyrinth" and stylistically to last year's short "The Danish Poet". It may not be for everyone, but it is certainly worth a look.

B

Oscar chances: Just got a lot slimmer. Right after I returned from the theatre, I read that this film was not selected among the 9 finalists for Best Foreign Film (that whole list is pretty strange, read more on that in upcoming Oscar predictions). It is still eligible in the Best Animated Film category, and certainly ranks in the top four. More on that coming with the predictions for that category.