Have you ever watched a film with the distinct feeling the filmmakers were actively trying to communicate something more than just entertainment? Watching Persepolis, the 2007 film based on the novel of the same name, provided me such an experience. Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel engages the reader with a personal insight into the history of the Islamic Revolution in Iran through the use of powerful linguistic and visual techniques. These techniques, when translated into film, produce new levels of experiencing Satrapi’s story that can be understood through a variety of theoretical frameworks. Gordon Gray[1] provides us with an excellent basis for understanding of the theoretical frameworks that are used to discuss films and also to make them. For the purpose of this discussion I will utilize a feminist framework (though there are many others that apply) to examine the film version of Persepolis.
“Persepolis gives us the sheer pleasure of narrative, rarely found in modern cinema or indeed fiction: a gripping story of what it is like to grow from a lonely imaginative child into an adult, and to find this internal tumult matched by geo-political upheaval”[2]. It is important to note here that while Marjane Satrapi is Iranian and the nucleus of the story is her struggle with her identity amidst the social and political changes from 1978 to 1994, the film is French and was banned in Iran. Therefore the views communicated in the film should not be seen as representative or indicative of a movement in Iranian film but rather as a specific product of Satrapi’s experience.
Dr. Lina Khatib of Stanford University was interviewed on the significance of Persepolis (you can listen to her interview here http://www.filmeducation.org/persepolis/lina-khatib2.mp3). Khatib says, “Satrapi’s film Persepolis also tackles problems faced by women in Iran…highlight[ing] this issue quite well and in this sense it is part of this movement toward addressing issues that are normally considered unspeakable in Iranian society”. While the film’s production was disassociated from Iranian government, it is based on a reality of women’s experience. Gray writes, “since the 1970s, feminist…theories…have put the politics of representation front and center” (71). Satrapi uses a technique commonly used by filmmakers to engage in subtle social criticism; she offers the majority of social criticism through a child’s perspective, one that is traditionally perceived as being unbiased and uncorrupted (Khatib). Satrapi uses this technique as one method, among many, to criticize certain problematic aspects of society. Satrapi’s young Marji is highly opinionated and observant about the gender imbalances in Iran during her upbringing. The author’s feminist framework is abundantly clear in the novel and the film maintains the feminist integrity.
One useful way to begin examining the feminist values of a film is to consider The Bechdel Test, which asks the following three questions[3]:
1. Are there two or more women in the movie who have names?
2. Do they talk to each other?
3. Do they talk to each other about something other than a man?
Persepolis provides three female characters that demonstrate significant feminist ideals. In addition to the main character, Marji, her overtly independent feminist role models, Mother and Grandmother, may also delight the viewer. While the mother and grandmother characters are not named, this is not unusual considering the story is told from the perspective of their daughter/granddaughter (respectively). The three women talk to each other consistently throughout the film, and the subject matter of their conversation ranges from family matters, music and social life, and significant political insight. [1] Gray, Gordon 2010 Film Theory. In Cinema: A Visual Anthropology, Pp.35-73. Oxford, New York: Berg.
[2] Bradshaw, Peter. “Persepolis.” 25 Apr. 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/apr/25/animation.drama (21 Mar. 2011).
[3] feministfrequency, “The Bechdel Test for Women in Movies.” 7 Dec. 2009.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLF6sAAMb4s (21 Mar. 2011).
Interesting post.
ReplyDeleteIn relation to the politics of representation, you make two good points: 1." she offers the majority of social criticism through a child’s perspective" and 2. " Satrapi’s young Marji is highly opinionated and observant about the gender imbalances in Iran during her upbringing. " I would have loved to see some examples. The use of the Bechdel Test is indeed a good way to examine the feminist values of a film, and you employ it well.