Random Review #27: The movie "Persepolis"

Directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
Starring (the voices of) Kirsten Dunst, Sean Penn, Iggy Pop, Gena Rowlands, Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux
Release date: December 22, 2007 (but playing at many places now)
Rated PG-13
Running time: 95 minutes

In recent years, conventional animation has been dying. With Disney's decision to no longer make anything other than live-action and computer animated movies by 2012, this "death" has nearly been cemented. That being said, it is incredibly refreshing to see a film like this come along. The animation style is very fluid and neat, and it keeps you interested throughout the entire film. The animation was created using a computer, but it still feels old-world-ish. It's charming, to be honest. I definitely hope this becomes a standard in animation.
This movie is based on the graphic novel fof the same name by Marjane Satrapi, whose early life this is based on (she also wrote the screenplay and co-directed). It follows her as a child, growing up in Iran in the mid-1970's during the end of the dictator Shah's rule. After this dictator died, most Iranians started a revolution; something that is completely against the law there. One of the people in this revolution is Marjane's communist uncle, Anouche (suprisingly played by Iggy Pop in the English version). He is sent to prison for speaking out against the way the government handles "electing" a new dictator. Essentially, the people "vote" for the one person that the government decides to elect. 99.99% of the vote goes towards this single person; the last .01% are people that didn't vote. Clearly, this is unfair.
From here, we see Marjane grow up into a woman. She listens to the Bee Gees (later replaced by Iron Maiden), wears a jacket that says "PUNKS NOT DED," and neglects to wear her head scarf in the style the government demands. She grows up further, becoming a young adult and forming her own ideals while moving through Iran and Europe. She attends punk shows, makes friends, and becomes a beautiful young woman.
This movie was amazing. The story was easy to follow, the animation was fantastic, and the voice acting was top-notch. My only complaints about this are that it didn't really have a solid plot (other than showing her grow up), and the ending. It just...stopped. I hate it when movies do that.
Overall, this is a great movie. I highly reccomend it, especially if you have lost faith in the traditionally animated movie as of late.