Mediatheque Presents - French Films Thursdays (monthly)

The NFB Mediatheque and its French partners offer a monthly French screening series, Ciné-Jeudi, the first Thursday of every month.  This season’s films celebrate recent classics from the Cannes Film Festival. Screenings are $6/person, with a discounted rate of $4 for students, seniors, NFB members and members of the French partner organizations. 

March 4 (7:30pm)
More info?  Click on:
http://www.NFB.ca/mediatheque

Persepolis
Directed by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi. 2007, France, 96 min
Winner, Jury Prize, 2007 Cannes Film Festival.
The poignant story of a young girl in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, based on the award-winning graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi.
preceded by

Conte de quartier
Directed by Florence Miailhe. 2006, NFB, 16 min
A crazy day in a neighbourhood under reconstruction: Seven characters and a rag doll are swept up in a dizzying chain of events.

Film Review:-

PERSEPOLIS (France 2007) ****
Directed by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi

Based on the graphic novels by Marjane Satrapi, PERSEPOLIS (the name of the ancient Persian capital) is the coming-of-age story of feisty Marjane (voiced by Chiara Mastroianni) as she struggles with her personal life and political issues.  From a child growing to a budding rebellious youth living in Austria, Ian and then France, PERSEPOLIS is a meticulously made film of a misunderstood female in the equally misunderstood nation of Iran.

Using animation to tell a story allows a film to progress more fluidly and artistically.  The use of jasmine flowers to illustrate the influence of the grandmother (Danielle Darrieux) on Marjane works well.  The stark, mostly black and white images emphasize the bleak pessimistic environment surrounding Marjane.  Yet Marjane’s spirit remains unperturbed despite her often getting into trouble.  Her film similarly displays her zest for life.  What is moving is that Marjane is shown as a humane creature full of failings and longings but mostly one who never gives up on life, her biggest blow being her love life.  The politics is not overbearing.  Satrapi and Paronnuad keep it at a minimum, often just mentioning names of the country’s leaders.  (Ayatollah Khomeini’s name is not mentioned at all.)

Satrapi often opens the audience’s eyes to differing points of view.  One for example is when Satrapi is told that the veil frees a woman from men.  This is true following the man troubles she encounters.

The film ends rather abruptly with Satrapi just before middle age indicating a possibility of a sequel.  This would be a welcome wait.  PERSEPLOIS is France’s Best Foreign Film Entry for this year’s Oscars.  If it wins, PERSEPOLIS will be the first animated feature to win in this Oscar category.