Which is Better?

This is one instance where I actually can’t decide if I like the book or the movie better. Usually I always side with the book, mostly because I find that it has more detail than the movies. But in this instance, both the movie and the book have positive and negative qualities.

The book is wonderful. I loved it, once I got into the storyline, and got used to the different style of the graphic novel. I actually feel that the book was better as a storyline. It seemed to flow better, even though the stories were the same in the movie. I expect movies to have some sort of transition between the different scenes, but this movie really seemed to jump around. This jumping around during the scenes could be Satrapi reminiscing about her childhood. Memories like that never seem to flow in a coherent manner. We are just observers looking in on a woman’s memories of her traumatic childhood. Another thing I liked about the book more than the movie was more detail into her adolescence and young adulthood. I feel like the movie really focused on the details in her childhood, and not so much her time in Europe, and her time in the university. The book was more detailed about her life, while the movie, like most movies, had to cut things out, most likely for time reasons. Another thing I like about the book is that the still images of all of the soldiers, and other frames where it is one figure used over and over are more dramatic as still images. The movie takes away a little bit of the striking quality of the still images.

I also like the movie better than the book for different reasons. As a design student, I really liked the fact that they left the childhood memories in black and white, while the present Satrapi sitting in the airport is in color. It gives a sense of drama to the war scenes from her childhood, while also lending an idea of Satrapi not remembering them in all their detail. She remembers what happened in them, but not well enough to remember the colors of the scene. This happens to everyone. Memories tend to get foggy or faded after long periods of time. I like that they brought that idea into the film. It really gives a sense of reality to the whole thing. Another thing that I liked about the movie more than the book is that the movie allows the characters to become more real. The characters are now able to move around, and show better facial expressions. This allows the audience to better understand exactly how the characters are feeling. In the book, we can get a general idea of how the characters are feeling, but the animation allows Satrapi to show minuscule signs in the facial expressions of the characters that really tell us exactly how they are feeling.

So far the movie has done a good job of imparting the story line, and I can’t wait to see the rest of it!

(Sarah Jaworowicz, Post 23)