It seems that animated characters can do more than real actors with the help of technical wizardry and heartfelt storytelling.  

“Persepolis” is a 90-minute animated film about the coming-of-age of an idealistic Iranian girl, Marjane, during the years of the Islamic Revolution in the 1980s and her subsequent migration to Europe. 

It is based on the French graphic novels of the same title, and an adaptation of the life of Marjane Satrapi, the film’s writer, artist and director.

In one dreamy sequence, Marjane talks to not one, but two bearded men in the sky. One of them is obviously God, while the other is Karl Marx.

Her childhood idealism is fluidly captured to reflect the socialist and progressive intellectual family background she was raised in.  

This sets the stage for the tragedy of conflict and hypocrisy when the religious fundamentalists take control of Iran.  

Complementing the depth of the issues was the use of mostly black-and-white abstract drawings to convey its universal appeal.

A live-action film, in comparison, would appear contrived.

Marjane, co-director of the film with Vincent Paronnaud, said, “With live-action, it would have turned into a story of people living in a distant land who don't look like us. At best, it would have been an exotic story, and at worst, a ‘Third-World’ story.”

Although the use of minimal colours complicated the process of accurately depicting locations such as Tehran, it did not lead to the compromise on detail.  

According to producer Marc Jousset, 20 animators worked on the film and produced 80,000 drawings that were combined into 130,000 images.

Described by Jousset as “realistic and mature,” the two-dimensional film was made at a cost of $6 million euros (S$12.5 million).

The rigidity in style, limited by the strict adherence in portrayal of characters and sequences realistically, still managed to leave its mark through sheer technical sophistication and delicate handling of its characters.

This formula is combined with elements of humour, sensitivity and an overbearing precariousness that sustains its emotional life.

Even though it can be viewed as a cartoon, “Persepolis” speaks more of the Iranians than all the present newspaper reports combined.  

Last July, the film was withdrawn from the Bangkok International Film Festival after a government-affiliated Iranian foundation expressed its objection to the portrayal of repression caused by its government.

The foundation said the film "presented an unrealistic face of the achievements and results of the glorious Islamic Revolution in some of its parts."

It is not often that Singapore gets to watch an animated film censored elsewhere, not least, for its caricatured portrayal of God.