Persepolis (2007)

Directors:

Vincent Paronnaud
Marjane Satrapi

Writers:

Marjane Satrapi (comic)
Vincent Paronnaud (scenario)

Release Date:

27 June 2007 (France)

Genre:

Animation | Biography | Drama | War

Plot:

Poignant coming-of-age story of a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl that begins during the Islamic Revolution.

Plot Keywords:

Revolution | Iran | 1970s | Shah | Dream

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 16 wins & 25 nominations

Cast

Chiara Mastroianni	...	Marjane 'Marji' Satrapi, as a teenager and a woman (voice)
Catherine Deneuve	...	Mrs. Satrapi - Marjane's mother (voice)
Danielle Darrieux	...	Marjane's grandmother (voice)
Simon Abkarian	...	Mr. Satrapi - Marjane's father (voice)
Gabrielle Lopes Benites	...	Marjane as a child (voice)
François Jerosme	...	Uncle Anouche (voice)
Sophie Arthuys	...	(voice)
Jean-François Gallotte
Arié Elmaleh	...	(voice)
Mathias Mlekuz	...	(voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stéphane Foenkinos
Amethyste Frezignac	...	Marjane as a child (voice: English version)
Tilly Mandelbrot	...	Lali (voice)
Sean Penn	...	Mr. Satrapi - Marjane's father (voice: English version)
Iggy Pop	...	Uncle Anouche (voice: English version)
Gena Rowlands	...	Marjane's grandmother (voice: English version)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material including violent images, sexual references, language and brief drug content.

Runtime:

96 min | Turkey:89 min (TV version)

Country:

France | USA

Language:

French | English | Persian | German

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | France:U | USA:PG-13 | Canada:14A | Finland:K-11 | Sweden:7 | Singapore:PG | Brazil:12 | Ireland:12A | Netherlands:6 | Taiwan:R-12 | UK:12A (2008) | Germany:12 | Argentina:Atp | South Korea:12 | Australia:M | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating)

Company:

2.4.7. Films

Trivia:

Wellington, New Zealand - In July, 2008 the Iranian embassy angrily protested the screening of Persepolis during the 37th Wellington Film Festival.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The departures board at Paris Orly at the beginning has Cincinnati misspelled as "Cincinatti".

Quotes:

[first lines]
Airport receptionist: Ticket and passport, please.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Roses du Sud

A whole new kind of animation

Persepolis is one of the most thoughtful, poignant and original films I have ever seen. Hang on, "poignant" and "thoughful", an animated movie (and based on a comic-book, on top of that)? Exactly, because coincidentally Persepolis also happens to be the first really adult "cartoon" I've had the pleasure to watch (Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly don't count, as they were filmed with real actors first, and subsequently modified in post-production). For all their good intentions, the likes of Dreamworks and Pixar always have an eye for what the little ones want to see, while The Simpsons, despite the occasional "mature" storyline (basically Homer and Marge's sex life), contains nothing a 12-year old isn't supposed to see. As for Family Guy and South Park, they might be aimed at grown-ups with their merciless satire and, in the case of the latter series, explicit language, but are made with an almost puerile sense of joy which prompts younger kids to watch them in secret. Persepolis, on the other hand, deals with adult themes in a serious, unpretentious way. So yes, it is an animated film. Yes, it is based on a comic-book. And yes, there is the occasional neat movie reference (Rocky III being the most memorable one). That doesn't mean it's a kids' movie, though; it just means the picture was made with a particular style because it was the most effective way to tell this specific story.

And what is so special about the story? Well, it is an account of what is going on in contemporary Iran, a topic that is more relevant today than it's ever been before. And the extra layer of poignancy derives from the fact that co-director Marjane Satrapi experienced every single event in the film. After moving to France to avoid the increasingly oppressive political situation that had developed in Teheran (which the ancient Greeks called Persepolis, hence the movie's title), she published her autobiography in the form of a graphic novel, which immediately became a cult phenomenon. With the help of artist Vincent Paronnaud, the stylized drawings have become a motion picture which has already conquered critics and won several awards (the Jury Prize in Cannes being one of them).

The film's strict adherence to the book's style makes for simple but powerful viewing: the simple pictures ensure the story doesn't need to be filtered, but can be understood right away, while the use of black and white provide the images with a strength that would otherwise be missing. A good example is a scene depicting a demonstration against the despotic regime in Iran and the subsequent shooting of one of the protesters, whose body is left lying on the ground: as his blood starts to flow, the corpse almost merges with the environment, giving the shot (pun not intended) an emotional relevance it wouldn't have, had the whole thing been in color. The choice of animation proves to be particularly effective in a most unusual choice for this kind of film, namely fantasy sequences: there is a hilarious moment, for instance, when Marjane, during a stay in Vienna, looks back on her disappointment in love and sees her ex-boyfriend as a depraved freak; live-action would have ruined that scene, undoubtedly. As it is, however, it comes off not as a bizarre formal experiment, but a fundamental tool for understanding the heroine's psychology.

That said, it should also be noted that Persepolis isn't just a bold take on the difficulties in the Middle East. As seen in Clint Eastwoood's Iwo Jima double bill, the line between "heroes" and "villains" is very thin, and the film never misses the opportunity to show how bad our own society can be: Marjane ends up hating Europe more than her home-country, and at the beginning a flashback shows the British government's role in manipulating Iranian politics for money's sake. Incidentally, the latter scene is depicted as a puppet show, providing a new, fresh angle: what sets truth apart from fiction?

Persepolis works because it handles an uncomfortable subject with grace, using a simple but constantly effective storytelling technique and never once pandering to audience expectations with the usual 'toon gimmicks (even the casting proves that: except for Catherine Deneuve, who plays the low-key role of Marjane's mother, there are no famous voices in the feature). It sticks to traditions and stretches the medium at the same time, showing that animation is no longer a "children's genre" and therefore delivering a new way to look at film-making and its possibilities. For this reason, and several more, it is one of the best pictures of 2007.