Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud: Poulet aux prunes / Chicken with Plums

Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's Poulet aux prunes /  Chicken with Plums (2011), set mostly in Iran in the 1950s, is a movie I can get behind 100%. It's cool and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing it on the big screen. It's an eclectic mix that feels as if steeped in Persian traditions that are thousands of years old, dosed up with surrealism and magical realism. It seems a little like Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (1843), flavored with a cupful of Thomas Mann's Der Tod in Venedig / A Death in Venice (1912) and a strong added dash of Marcel Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu / In Search of Lost Time / Remembrance of Things Past (1913-1931). Oh, yeah, this too: Poulet aux prunes features special appearances by Azraël, the Angel of Death and it's also quite funny in parts. What's not to love? On top of this, it can be seen as an allegory about Iran and its exiles, Iran and its artists. Impressive.                                                                                                                                                           

The actors in Poulet aux prunes are fantastic. Mathieu Amalric -- undoubtedly known best by millions across the globe as a Bond villain -- plays the often comically passionate artiste Nasser-Ali Khan. Maria de Medeiros (Anaïs Nin in Henry and June; also appeared in Pulp Fiction, among many other films) plays Nasser-Ali's arranged wife. The whole cast is a joy, but for now, let's add Isabella Rossellini (Parvine, Nasser-Ali's mother), Édouard Baer (an impish Azraël, reminding me a lot of Peter Sellers) and Golshifteh Farahani (Irâne, or Iran -- Nasser-Ali's absurdly beautiful muse). 

      

Today's Rune: Partnership.

Persepolis on DVD: English Language Version

I'm not often a fan of graphic or animated movies, but Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's Persepolis (2007) is exceptional. Imagine a feature length version of Peanuts on the order of Snoopy and the Red Baron wherein the adults speak far more warmly and eloquently than their usual wanh wanh wanhs.

Imagine a precocious girl/young woman and her cool extended family living in a "bad scene," sort of like Anne Frank with greater mobility.














The backdrop is: first, life in 1978 near the end of the Shah's reign; then 1979 during the first phase of the Iranian Revolution; the period of the great Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988; and the 1990s.

Persepolis is terrific, worth seeing more than once, worth showing to any open-minded person from about age sixteen up, but especially adults (watch out for some funny but "foul" language and also background violence).













Marjane Satrapi (b. 11/22/1969, Rasht, Iran) is fabulous; the story is seen largely though her eyes as a child and teen and twenty-something.

Who could ask for better English-speaking voices, or richer ones with such gravitas?

Check these out:

Iggy Pop as Uncle Anouche;
Catherine Deneuve as Marjane's mother;
Chiara Mastroianni (daughter of Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni) as Marjane;
Sean Penn as Marjane's father;
Gena Rowlands as Marjane's grandfather.












Believe me, this is a real treat -- entertaining, hip, tragic, comic, all of it. Ignore the trailers, though -- the actual movie (and DVD) is far better than it might seem from the ones I've seen.
















Today's Rune: Journey.

Persepolis in America

Marjane Satrapi's 2007 animated film Persepolis is beginning to circulate in North America. Adapted from her 2003-2005 graphic novels, it follows a young Iranian from the last days of the Shah in the wake of the Iranian Revolution through the Iran-Iraq War toward the present. It humanizes Iranians while taking to task authoritarianism. Instant classic, up for an Academy Award.

Officially a French film, Persepolis reportedly will also feature an English-language voice over -- including the voices of Iggy Pop, Sean Penn, and Gena Rowlands. I look forward to seeing this, certainly.

Marjane Satrapi: Yes, [Iggy is] playing my uncle Anoush. I chose him myself. I was in L.A., and one morning I woke up like, "Jesus! Shit! Iggy Pop has to be the uncle! It can’t be anybody else." Because he has this deep voice, and he’s so virile, and because I love his music. It was so incredible to work with him because he was one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met in my life. He’s extremely nice, extremely gentle, and very articulate and cultivated . . . I listen to his music almost every day.

(Source: "‘Persepolis’ Creator Marjane Satrapi Loves Iggy Pop, Bruce Lee, Screwdrivers," New York Entertainent, 10/12/2007).

Strange world, huh?

Today's Rune: Fertility. Yesterday's: Protection.