Dr. Toon: Persepolis Who?
One good way to make a fool of yourself is to talk about a movie you have not actually seen, but that, dear readers, is exactly what I am about to do. There is at present an animated film that has won eight major film awards and was, or is being, nominated for eight others. Despite the fact that Sony Pictures is handling this film's U.S. distribution, the film is almost completely unknown among those who attend American movie theaters. Because of this unforgivable insult against one of the year's best films, I have been unable to see anything but a few slivers of it via Internet trailers. Has anyone out there not in L.A. or N.Y. -- anyone -- seen Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis?
On the other hand, audiences are treated (on two screens at most multiplexes) to the lowest examples of swill dished out by Hollywood. While Persepolis struggles to be shown in the smallest of art film houses, National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets is smeared like celluloid scum across thousands of screens, insulting the intellect of millions. Oh, this film is good enough if one is willing to profess ignorance of American history and government, European history, Native American history, archeology, geology and geography. This is not to mention ignoring at least three major plot holes that could envelop Mount Rushmore, but why indeed go on? This misbegotten mishmash is presently sitting on a box office gross of $187,000,000, which should be enough to launch a third sequel (possibly subtitled Yankee Doodle Dimwits).
Persepolis, to date, has brought in $540,000 in vastly limited release (30 screens). Teamed up with the gross profits from Paprika ($882,667), this formidable and brilliant team of animated films -- both distributed by Sony -- actually managed to break the $1.4 million mark. Persepolis is up for an Annie. If it were to win, the award would be the eighth major award secured by the picture this year; the film has already won the 2007 Sutherland Trophy presented by the British Film Institute, the Cannes Jury Prize, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Animation, the New York City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Animated Film, and The Most Popular Film Award from the Vancouver International Film Festival, among others. Book of Secrets would be fortunate if nominated for a Golden Turkey.
Imagine the scene on Oscar night when Persepolis is announced as one of the nominees for Best Animated Film. When it is named alongside Ratatouille and Surf's Up, most of America is going to respond with "Huuuunnh?" So, you might ask, what else is Sony up to these days, that Persepolis should remain an enigma to millions? Well, at the time of this writing the distributor had exactly two films in the top 50, First Sunday and The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep. Neither one will ever be considered masterpieces of the cinema, let alone Oscar nominees. Total gross between the films: about $55 million, not counting the take from DVD rentals that they should start accruing in oh, two months or so. Sony had nothing to lose by letting Persepolis loose in wider release for even a brief run.
I know what this sounds like, readers. So far I have focused on box office, profits, revenues and attendance figures. Although the economic bottom line is a strong factor in what gets made, released and distributed, there is far more to it than that. It would be erroneous to say that the only function of cinema is an aesthetic one, yet there is a degree to which this is true. This is where American audiences are cheated by decisions such as the ones recently made at Sony (though they are not the only culprits). There are not enough alternatives to Book of Secrets and clones of Resident Evil when they dominate the multiplexes, save for the occasional independent film that breaks through to the mainstream. Far too often, a mass audience is denied the opportunity to have a special and unusual experience, and this is likely the case with Persepolis.
It wouldn't be the first time that distributors have made grievous errors by not disseminating or promoting excellent animated films to audiences. Was it all that long ago that Warner Bros. decided that Cats Don't Dance was not worth a box of litter in terms of publicity costs? Didn't the studio follow up that dunderheaded decision by giving Brad Bird's The Iron Giant the steel shaft as far as publicity and screenings were concerned? Both films became belated cult hits after being released to DVD, and either one of them could have at least held its own if nominated for an Oscar today. Just because the money earned by Persepolis made The Water Horse look like The Phantom Menace in comparison does not mean that the public should be deprived of a major Oscar contender and multiple-award-winning film. But... the public has a role in this travesty as well.
These unhappy scenarios do not take place because we are stupid, unappreciative, or rejecting; it is because too many of us have been trained to respond to blockbuster CG animated releases from certain studios with major budgets and imposing brand names. If Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks or Blue Sky didn't make the film, the public probably doesn't know it (and won't see it). Except for the fanatics like those of you who belong to ASIFA, visit this website and read this column, most will not even care. It also happens because the distributor has estimated a bottom line and made a decision that Persepolis is a continent away from it. Therefore, Satrapi's opus will remain (mostly) unseen until the DVDs roll out.
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