The throes of civilization-
"I grew up in Iran", after viewing it, there is
no compulsion in religion.
——The Koran (Section 256 of Chapter Two) has a
strong Persian miniature beauty and soothing Middle Eastern music. The black-and-white cartoon "I grew up in Iran" tells the growth history of an Iranian girl. It was a growth experience in a special age. The people's uprisings that overthrew the Pahlavi dynasty, the Islamic revolution, the Iran-Iraq War... From this, this autobiographical comic film by Mazan Shatabi bears the pains of civilization that it can hardly bear. .
This is a political film or a literary film. The light comic format can no longer contain the heavy core, so that the author has to intersperse words in the film to inspire the courage of the audience: "It is fear that makes us lose our confidence. Have the courage to face it". Watching this foreign film, I did not allow myself to stay out of the situation. The brutal behavior of the young pickets who were only fourteen or five years old in checking forbidden alcohol is reminiscent of the Red Guards' looting during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The name, however, one is the Great Proletarian Revolution and the other is the Islamic Revolution.
It is said that the pictures in the film were hand-drawn by Mazan with one stroke, which is surprising in the computer age. What's more interesting is that the painter is a dissident among the Iranians, but the paintings in her pen are so traditional, allowing discerning people to see through her love of miniature painting, an 800-year-old Iranian and even the entire Central and West Asian painting tradition. The miniature painting is deeply influenced by the Islamic Sufi doctrine of "the unity of man and the master", but Mazan dares to take an attitude of scrutinizing and even ridiculing religion in the film, which makes the fundamentalists very dissatisfied. In fact, even with the Sufi doctrine, some extreme fundamentalists cannot be tolerant. This is the sorrow of the troubled Muslims. However, there are only black and white in the picture, but it is a betrayal of the bright and beautiful miniature painting. In the miniature painting, you can see a fantasy world composed of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Those who believe in the faithful miniature painters spend their entire lives. Persevering in drawing the world in the eyes of Allah, Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk’s best-selling novel "My Name is Red" vividly describes this group of fine painters. Mazan is the same but different from them. The duality of black and white is the background color of that special era, and it is also the character of the author Ma Zan. After bathing in Western culture, she regards the retro as a retrogression, and feels detached from this. She is using the abstract features of miniature painting to give her story a universal magic, and her thinking about development and democracy is enough to arouse everyone's reverie.
Don't blame that Iranian woman named Mazan is extreme, she has witnessed and endured so many life and death, she was almost driven mad. I was moved by it, perhaps because I was a weak scholar. When seeing the Iranian Communists in the film who are underground and avoiding authoritarian persecution, I can't help but feel a kind of old sadness. After all, I am a person who has received an orthodox red education. That is a brand that I cannot get rid of. When the female Communist Party member Lufa stood under the gallows, my heart trembled; the young Mazan bravely stood up and questioned the religious teacher in class: "My uncle was under the rule of Shah (note: king). He was put in jail, but the new regime hanged him...", I also asked. Mazan’s Communist uncle Lugosh was hanged, and Uncle Dailer, who needed to go abroad for medical treatment, also died. In addition to physical illness, the murderer who killed him also had a bureaucratic system that refused to issue visas and alienation that was inevitable in the revolution. The revolution came to save human suffering, but under the hypnosis of radical fanaticism, it became indifferent, merciless, and numb. All revolutions that abandon humanitarianism will eventually be ruined. This common lesson should be learned for the world.
There was a dialogue that made Mazan remember his life. At that time, Iran was suffering from the ravages of the Iran-Iraq War. The political cleansing in the country put everyone at risk. The streets of Tehran were snowy and cold. The topic of war between Mazan and grandma was heard by an old man selling snacks. The old man said helplessly: "May the Lord stop those barbaric acts." "May the Lord hear what you just said." Grandma answered him. Those with a heart can hear the sarcasm in the voice. As a soothing religion, it should not overwhelm the world, and should not bear too much content that has nothing to do with it, so that Caesar belongs to Caesar and God belongs to God. Only in this way can noble and pure spiritual beliefs be protected from stigmatization.
The story of the movie starts from the memories of Marzin at the French airport when she was an adult. She wanted to go home but did not have a visa. She had to sit in the waiting hall and smoke cigarettes one by one, suffocating the past. Ruyan came to mind. In the end, she failed to board the plane and left in a lonely taxi...Such an ending reminded me of the poetic title of a film by the famous Iranian poet director Abbas, "Where is My Home". Both the exiled and domestic artists are thinking about the same human problem, but they have not left an answer. Of course, this is not just their personal dilemma.
From a historical point of view, every civilization has faced a destiny decision, whether to make a brave transformation, or to remain indifferent and continue to sink, which has tested all ancient civilizations, including China. The throes of transformation are inevitable, and the criticism and reflection in the throes are just a manifestation of the strong vitality of a nation! Therefore, I don’t think this film is a reaction to Iran. I think no matter what the author’s current political stance is, it will not affect the Iranian cultural attributes of her work. Just like "Red Sorghum" and "Raise the Red Lantern" were criticized by the Chinese people, they have now become classics of Chinese movies.
As the movie says, the domestic situation has changed a lot in the 1990s, and Iranians have more freedom. In the new century, Mazan, a film destined to cause controversy in Iran, was released globally, and she did not dare to return to China, but the fact is that the Iranian government did not embarrass her relatives who stayed in Iran.
Enron 2008-2-20
View more about Persepolis reviews
