Persepolis Review from the other Day

The movie adaptation of Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis did a good job at recreating the novels unique style. I think the movie did a good job at telling the story as well. The movie left so scenes out, but that is to be expected with almost all booked based films. The story still turned out just as fascinating as the book. The film adaptation did many simple things that helped it keep the charm the graphic novel does.

To begin with, the movie recreated the graphic novels style to help preserve the experience of the story. People who read the book can easily pick up on who each character is in the movie. By turning the book into a cartoon like movie, the characters images were unchanged. Sometimes, celebrities play roles that ruin the story for fans that imagine someone else as the character. The film also did a good job at filling in what happened in the gutter of the novel. The story unfolds just like I imagined it did in the comic. The use of colors in the film also helped tell parts of the story. For the majority of the film it was all black and white. Whenever Marjane was in an airport however, the film was in color. The change in color helps to express her feelings at the time.

In addition, the language of the film helps to maintain part of Persepolis’s appeal. The novel is written in English, but you can tell that the characters are speaking a foreign language. In the film, the characters are speaking French. Watching a film in a different language draws your attention and makes you read the subtitles. Reading the subtitles make the movie seem like it is the graphic novel. That also helps people who read the book relate to the story and enjoy it. The voices in the story match the characters very well. The changes in Marjane voice match each stage of her life. The voice of young Marjane was just a believable as her teenage voice.

Furthermore, the film did a good job at telling the story according to the graphic novel. The film did leave out scenes that fans of the novel will definitely notice, but the movie did not make up any new scenes. Unlike many films, Persepolis was very accurate to the novel. The director of the film had to fill in lots of gaps left by the gutter of the novel. In the novel, the gutter allows the reader to connect what is happening however they want. The director’s interpretation of what happens in the gutter was very reasonable. Every scene connected flawless with the next.

In conclusion, I think the film faithfully told the story in its own way without ruining the experience of the novel. The art still was just like the book which made it easier for the viewer to get into the story. The viewer does not have to process new information like setting and characters because it looks just like the novel. Using the same style also helped to maintain the stories atmosphere because the characters looked identical to the novel. Fans of the novel do not have to worry about having bad actors casted for certain roles of the film. The language of the film helps add to the fact that this story takes place in a foreign country, and the voice casting perfectly matches every character. The director film made all the scenes flow together flawlessly, and told very well. Overall, the film adaptation of Persepolis is very good and definitely worth watching.

RC Spidey 2 suggestion

Both of the movie reviews talked about the directors adaptation of the comic to the film. The authors of the reviews had opposite opinions on the film, but they both focused on similar aspects of Spider Man 2. Todd Gilchrist review showed that he did not like the sequel as much as he did the first film. Gilchrist said that many screens longer than they needed too, and the directors message was expressed more than needed. Gilchrist's example about the elevator scene in the movie made it easy to see his point. Watching Spider man use the elevator shows that he is trying to act normal. We do not have to watch him ride the elevator all the way to the top just to understand he is trying to be normal.

Roger Ebert's review showed that he really enjoyed the sequel better than the first Spider man. Unlike Gilchrist, Ebert like how the director expressed his messages in the film. Ebert thought that the director flawless connected the story for the comic book readers and for the fans of the first movie. In Ebert's review he wrote that some people do not like Spider man 2 because it focuses more on the responsibility Peter has to deal with more than focuses on his powers. Ebert believes that the focuses helps make the movie better and different from other superhero films.

I think that both of the reviews dealt more with personal preference than anything else. Both of the authors expressed their views on the film. After they expressed their views, they gave examples that illustrates their point. Gilchrist did not like the film because he thought the scenes were drawn out too much. He pointed out many scenes that wen ton longer than they should have. Ebert liked the film and he talked about why he liked the film. Both of the reviews seemed more about personal preference. Gilchrist did mention anything that he liked about Spider man 2, and Ebert did not mention any dislikes about the film as well.

Persepolis: Comic vs Film

Both the movie and the graphic novel did a very good job at telling Marjane's story. The movie did a really good job at copying the art still of the novel. The subtitles in the movie moved faster than most movies, but it was still easy to keep up. Unlike the novel, the movie did not show Marjane's inner thoughts as well as the comic. In the graphic novel, sometimes a whole page was used just to put emphasis on Marjane's feelings. The movie also lacks some of the experience gained from story. The gutter in the novel helps show the reader that time is passing, but sometimes there were messages written in the gutter. The messages catch the reader off guard and draws attention. The messages explain things that may not make sense to everyone. Furthermore, the movie did a better job at showing Marjane's age. They way she talked and acted in the film helps the viewer to get a good sense of how old she really was when all the events where going on.

Chapter 1 Exercise 1

A. Recent studies show that there are dangerous levels of Chemical X in the Ohio groundwater.

B. Critics agree that this novel has certain flaws.

C. Some people find Football boring.

D. Many teachers believe that male students often dominate class discussions.

E. All my friends think that the film is really about the problems of romantic relationships.

F. Most English Professors are afraid that the templates like the one in They Say I Say will stifle their students creativity.

Graff Exercise 1

I found a paragraph that had some similar moves to Emily Poe's essay. The article from http://online.wsj.com/public/page/letters.html has similar structure. Halfway down the page there is a paragraph label "Don't Ski Alone in Remote Areas". The author of the two paragraphs starts off by saying what someone else said. Then he explains what he thinks the article implied. The next paragraph continues on with what the author thinks is the truth. Poe's essay starts off with the stereotypical vegetarian definition. Which is what someone else says. Then Poe's explains to the reader what she believes being a vegetarian is about.

Eisner and McCloud's Comics

I have never really read a comic book before, but I found Eisner and McCloud's comics interesting. Late last year I saw movie trailers for The Spirit at least a hundred times. I thought the movie looked really stupid. All I knew about the movie was the fact that the guy wears a red tie. As I was reading Eisner's comic, I wanted to actually read the comic to see what happens. McCloud's comic help to explain the parts of the comic book to me. I never paid attention to how simple things like the dripping water shows time is moving. Overall, I found that the articles made me want to give comic books a shot.