persepolis…

is not a film i would have chosen to see on my own, but it was interesting. it seems that one of the purposes of comics (and i am coming to this from maus) is to confer a level of distance to an otherwise emotionally volatile topic (as well as to create historical resonance within the genre…cat and mouse) and this is useful in persepolis. to a degree. it might have made the story easier for the author to write. it also creates a not so sentimental story where sentiment could have become syrupy. but it was a  little flat for me; it was too clinical. there were a few scenes where one of the characters made a strikingly human gesture–the father rubs his left eyelid with his index finger, near the beginning of the film–and this intrigued me. i made the observation that it made the film human to my fellow film-goer, who introduced me to rotoscoping. (sorry for the wikipedia link. i couldn’t find a more succinct one.) i said that it ruined the magic, but i am not sure that’s true, sorry k.