Persepolis (2007)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Directors:

Vincent Paronnaud
Marjane Satrapi

Writers:

Vincent Paronnaud (screenplay)
Marjane Satrapi (comic & screenplay)

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:

Siren | Grandmother Granddaughter Relationship | Rubble | Protest March | Teenage Boy

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 15 wins & 21 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	...	Marjane as a child (voice)
François Jerosme	...	Anouche (voice)
Arié Elmaleh	...	(voice)
Mathias Mlekuz	...	(voice)
Jean-François Gallotte
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stéphane Foenkinos
Tilly Mandelbrot	...	Lali (voice)
Sean Penn	...	Mr. Satrapi - Marjane's father (voice: English version)
Iggy Pop	...	(voice: English version)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

96 min | France:95 min | Turkey:89 min (TV version)

Country:

France | USA

Language:

French | English | Persian | German

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | 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

Company:

2.4.7. Films

Trivia:

Catherine Deneuve and Chiara Mastroianni lent their voices to the movie's English- and French-language versions, playing the same roles.

Goofs:

Continuity: When it is 1992, Marji marries. Her mother says her that she is just 21 years old. But in last minutes of movie, it is written 22.11.1969 as her date of birth. So when she got married, she is at least 23 years old.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

References Gojira (1954)

Soundtrack:

Eye of the Tiger

Animation in black-and-white, autobiographical, growing up in Iran during the reign of the Shah and later, the Islamists

The black-and-white animation, highly stylized and two dimensions which doesn't attempt to render the usual cartoon 3-D, summarizes in quick, intelligent flashes, often impressionistic, growing up in Teheran and Vienna from a highly personal point of view. The narrative is as original as the art. The narrator, Marjane Satrapi, only daughter of an educated Teheran couple, first sketches in briefly how the Shah first came to power,only to lose it and have it replaced by the fanatical religious regime of today. Educated in a French school, she and her family are rapidly alienated from the so-called revolution; she is sent to Vienna to continue her education, falls in with a group of punks and eventually returns both depressed and disillusioned to Teheran where, with other university students, she must submit to the rule of extreme Islamists.

The story covers a great deal of ground from the point of view of a young pro-Western culture radical, and is told with humor and intelligence. She laughs at herself as much as at the semi-lunatic Guards of the Revolution.

Satrapi's hold on reality is much strengthened under the influence of her highly honest grandmother who teaches her not co compromise, not to betray and not to give in.

This is no fairy tale with flying horses and beautiful princesses, but a serious, unsentimental and sometimes brutally honest film covering, among other events, the story of the millions of Iranians and Iraqis who died in a now forgotten seven year war around the Persian Gulf.