Persepolis review

 Number 301 on the top 1000 films of all time is the French 2007 adult-animated, coming-of-age, biographical drama Persepolis.

Persepolis was directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud. Satrapi also wrote the film adapting it from her autobiographical graphic novel of the same name. It tells the story of Marjane (Chiara Mastroianni) a young woman growing up in the midst of the Iranian revolution. To escape the horrors, her family reluctantly send her to a French lycee in Austria, but after struggling to fit in and going through much trouble and strife, Marjane grows homesick and returns to her parents in Iran.

Ever since I started doing the challenge of watching the top 1000 films of all time, I've had the opportunity to watch some of the most amazing films that I never would have had the chance to have done otherwise. If it wasn't for this list, then I never would have heard of Persepolis, but thank God I did, because it was a great film.

Firstly, it looked beautiful on-screen. The animation was gorgeous. Granted, it was only simple two-dimensional drawings, but this was completely intentional. Satrapi requested that the animations were kept as simple and as traditional as possible, so as not to date the film. To that end, she also deliberately chose to have the film rendered in black-and-white. This all had the effect of giving the visuals a gentle beauty. Everything was subtle and understated. There was nothing to distract you from the story.

Just like the animation, the story was simple, but no less masterful. If you strip away the horrors of the Iranian revolution, we have a basic coming-of-age story. One where Marjane, who like everybody else, is looking for acceptance and meaning. In this sense Persepolis was a microcosm of real life. In a case of the grass being greener, Marjane reluctantly leaves her home for a new life in Europe, only to realise that her fantasies don't match up to reality.

On a more macro level, Persepolis also showcased the horrors of the Iranian revolution in stark and brutal detail. The horrors that the regime committed were laid bare for everybody to see. Nothing was dressed-up or exaggerated. Everything was real. The voice performances and the animation all added to this powerful presentation.

I thoroughly enjoyed Persepolis. It was a relatable story told and presented with basic, but gorgeous animation. Yes, it was simplistic, but simplicity is not always a bad thing, as Persepolis proved in spades.

Battleship Potemkin review

 Number 318 on the top 1000 films of all time is Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 silent film 'Battleship Potemkin.'

In the backdrop of the Russian revolution, sailor Vakulinchuk (Aleksandr Antonov) leads a mutiny against the tyrannical officers of the Battleship Potemkin. He and his fellow sailors sail into Odessa as heroes, but the revolution is only beginning.

Battleship Potemkin received acclaim from historical and contemporary critics. Unlike some other films of the era e.g All Quiet on the Western Front, it has held up well over the years.

One thing that struck me was how Eisenstein never shied away from depicting the brutality of the revolution. Within the famous scene of the massacre on the Odessa Steps, we witness these horrors in unflinching detail. Two key scenes come to mind - a little boy who has been shot by a Cossack, blood pouring from his head, and a woman who has a bullet-hole where her eye should be. They were powerful scenes.

This was shocking at the time, and it was especially shocking to see it in a silent film in an era dominated by the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.

But I'm going to slightly demur from popular critical opinion. The massacre on the Odessa steps is considered one of the film's highlights. While it was good, I would argue that it went on for so long that any dramatic tension became severely diluted. There are only so many times that we can watch people run away. The film is only sixty-seven minutes long, but if it wasn't for this overly-drawn out sequence, it could have been shorter.

Yes, it is a propaganda film, but Battleship Potemkin did serve as an early reminder of the power of cinema.