In Persepolis,
both the movie and the book were able to portray the main idea of Satrapi. The main idea being for us to look at how Satrapi
evolved into a grown women with struggles along the way. Throughout both we were able to clearly
understand what a difficult childhood she lived and we were able to get a sense
of what her life was like back then.
Like in many cases, the book informed us of every detail possible in
order to get a clearer message across.
When it came to the movie, it lacked many details that were included in
the book and if you would not have read the book it would cause you to be
confused and lost.
For instance
there are a couple scenes in the movie that seem to just happen, there was no
type of development or leading actions involved. There was a specific scene in the movie where
Satrapi and her mother walk past a conversation that her father and neighbors
are having, the female neighbor seems to have some type of scar in her cheek
but we are not sure what it is and if it even matters. But if we take a look at the book we see that
the scene is different. Satrapi and her
family briefly talk with their neighbors, a husband and wife, and the husband
tells her father “Look! A bullet almost
hit my wife’s cheek.” (Satrapi) This was
a piece of information that could and should have been briefly added because it
gives us a bigger picture of how dangerous their lives were during the
revolution. This would only help us, the
viewers, have a bigger reaction to the plot.
Another example
that comes to mind was the absence of certain characters. The family’s maid Mehri, as well as Satrapi’s
good friend, is never mentioned in the movie.
This was an important factor because throughout an incident that is
described in the book we are able to learn the big issues with social class and
in the movie it is something that we miss out on since it is not mentioned at
all. The incident was that Mehri falls in
love with the neighbor’s son and once Satrapi’s father knows of this he tells Hossein,
the neighbors son, that she is a maid therefore Hossein decided to stop seeing her.
Satrapi’s Father explains to Satrapi, “You
must understand that their love was impossible. Because in this country you must stay within your
own social class.
Many of the
characters are also minimized/lack full description, for instance Mohsen and
Anoosh. From the movie all we hear about
Mohsen is that he is found drowned in a bath tub and it leaves many unanswered
questions such as why did it happen and who was he. In the book we know that he visited the
Satrapi family the same day that Siamak visits but that is never portrayed in
the movie. When it comes to Anoosh, in
the movie towards the end of the story he is telling Strapi she asks if he has
any family and ends the conversation. On
the other hand, in the book he tells Satrapi “…I married and had two children,
two girls…” And we are also able to
learn that his marriage did not turn out very well.
Although there
were many details missing in the movie that were included in the book, I do not
think that it takes away the intention of the book. A message is clearly stated throughout the
movie as well as the book. In both
resources we are able to see how the main character grows up and how her
surroundings and everything she has seen/been through influence the person she
became. In my personal appealing I feel
as if the book was more appealing than the movie. The movie was short and brief and got to the
main points of the story and was still able to get a message across. I feel as if the book was more detailed which
made the plot clearer. Every character
was described perfectly and every scene made sense and fell into place with the
other scenes so that they could all make sense.
The details that are included in the book make the story bring more
emotion to the reader for the fact that everything is explained, even the smallest
details.
The visual style
for the movie was the same as the book, both were comics. The movie is all cartoons, which is something
that I found interesting. I feel that
making it into a cartoon was a smart decision because it makes it so simple and
easy to follow. I liked the fact that I
was able to understand the movie very well, although it was in French, because
many of the scenes were similar to the book.
As the movie went along I was able to think
In the end I
think both the book and movie were enjoyable.
What helped me out a lot was the fact that I had previously read the
book therefore I was not as lost as someone else who had not read it. The lack of details and description of
characters could have easily confused someone.
On the bright side, a message was still able to get across through both
sources.
Work
Cited
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis.
1. New York: Pantheon, 2003. Print
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