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Utilizing a Different Medium

Shayna S's picture

While watching the movie the other night, I noticed that while many scenes were copied from the graphic novel, they were executed in a style that utilized the medium of film. 

Think, for example, of the scene in which Satrapi recaps the history of the Shah for the viewer. In the graphic novel, the panels depicting this scene resemble (parody?) the flat art style from ancient works. 

The film depicts this scene in a different manner. No longer are the Shah and England flat, immobile representations. They are animated as a kind of puppet one would hold by a stick and jostle to move the arms and head. The scene is like that of a puppet theater. the background and the people look as though they could be made out of paper or cardboard. 

This difference in the same scene creates a different feeling in the mediums. Both seem to give an initial sense of childishness. The film takes this feeling further with its puppet-theater-like-animation portrayal. It is ironic to have something horrific (and perceived as adult) given to the viewer in a children's performance. It adds to the viewer's experience of the child version of Satrapi's lens.

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