Chicken With Plums

In Chicken With Plums (2011), Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud attempt to render the unique aesthetic of Persepolis (2007) into live action. They've certainly crafted an aesthetic feast that's imaginatively shot. Too bad the overall experience underwhelms.

In 1958, Iranian violinist Nassir (Mathieu Amalric) commits suicide. Nassir grew despondent after his long-suffering wife Faranguisse (Marie de Madeiros) destroyed his prized violin. Flashbacks of the lead-in to Nassir's death reveal why: the violin was connected with Irane (Golshifteh Farahani), Nassir's lost love. Unable to marry Irane, Nassir entered into an unhappy marriage, channeling his passion into music. Without music - or Irane - in his life, things no longer seem worthwhile.

Chicken With Plums wins praise for its ravishing visuals. Satrapi, Parronaud and cinematographer Christophe Beaucalme craft a fantasy aesthetic resembling Powell and Pressburger or, more appropriately, Jean-Pierre Jeunet. The movie's dreamlike cadence registers in verdantly colored skies, moody deep focus and double exposure. Certainly the movie doesn't lack for powerful visuals, as when Nassir sends off his mother's (Isabella Rosselini) departing soul with a violin solo. There's even a brief animated interlude explicitly recalling the directors' earlier collaboration.

Yet Chicken never really comes together. Satrapi and Parronaud conceive the story an episodic thought piece, counting down Nassir's last week on Earth. But the execution is terribly clunky. The film flits aimlessly between past and future, tone and style veering sharply from moment to moment. Filmmakers, of course, can get away with self-contained episodes in lieu of plot. But Satrapi handles it so poorly that the artifice shows; it's a collection of scenes, not a movie.

It doesn't help that Chicken feels forced. The visuals are clever but the movie slides uneasily between realistic drama and fantasy. The cutesy tone becomes unbearable at times, especially the scenes with Nassir's children or, especially, a prolonged parody of American sitcoms. Nassir and Irane's romance registers strongly, but introduced so late it throws things off-balance. Lacking what made Persepolis so effective - skillful balance of whimsy and pathos, insightful characterization - it becomes incoherent and emotionally barren.

Mathieu Amalric (Munich) makes Nassir a compelling protagonist, tormented and hanging on to shattered dreams. Golshifteh Farahani mainly looks pretty and pouty, but Maria de Madeiros (Pulp Fiction) does remarkable work showing Faranguisse's deep-seeded frustration. Eduoard Baer and Jamel Debbouze play their scenes as crude pantomime.

Chicken With Plums ultimately disappoints. For all its visual appeal, it resembles nothing so much as a poor man's Amelie, overselling self-aware silliness at the expense of genuine charm.