| | | Surviving the War is Only the Beginning of Battle.
Features: DVD, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, Dolby Digital (5.1), Black & White, Spanish, Subtitled, English, Dubbed & Subtitled
Persepolis is the poignant story of a young girl coming-of-age in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. It is through the eyes of precocious and outspoken nine-year-old Marjane that we see a people's hopes dashed as fundamentalists take power -- forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. Clever and fearless, she outsmarts the "social guardians" and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden. Yet when her uncle is senselessly executed and as bombs fall around Tehran in the Iran/Iraq war the daily fear that permeates life in Iran is palpable. As she gets older, Marjane's boldness causes her parents to worry over her continued safety. And so, at age fourteen, they make the difficult decision to send her to school in Austria. Vulnerable and alone in a strange land, she endures the typical ordeals of a teenager. In addition, Marjane has to combat being equated with the religious fundamentalism and extremism she fled her country to escape. Over time, she gains acceptance, and even experiences love, but after high school she finds herself alone and horribly homesick. Though it means putting on the veil and living in a tyrannical society, Marjane decides to return to Iran to be close to her family. After a difficult period of adjustment, she enters art school and marries, all the while continuing to speak out against the hypocrisy she witnesses. At age 24, she realizes that while she is deeply Iranian, she cannot live in Iran. She then makes the heartbreaking decision to leave her homeland for France, optimistic about her future, shaped indelibly by her past.
"Cinematic poetry in black and white. It also is a deeply affecting tale of the power of resilience..." Claudia Puig, USA Today
"A completely different kind of animated movie that, even more than "Ratatouille," reimagines what the medium can do." Dana Stevens, Slate
"Isn't like any animated film you've ever seen." David Ansen, Newsweek
"Wonderful! Funny and inspiring." John Powers, Vogue
"Grade A! A marvel!" Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
"Like nothing you've ever seen! A mindblower! Marjane is a sass queen to rival Juno." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"An unqualified triumph!" Stephen Holden, The New York Times
Editor's Note
NEW YORK PREMIERE AT NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL 2007|IN THEATRES DECEMBER 25, 2007 (Limited)PERSEPOLIS presents a deeply personal coming-of-age tale about finding one's place in the world. Based on her bestselling graphic novel, Marjane Satrapi teamed up with underground comic book artist Vincent Paronnaud to co-direct this animated big screen adaptation. The result is an electrifying, heartfelt, and original portrait of a spunky girl who surmounts countless obstacles to grow into a wise young adult. Marjane (voiced by Chiara Mastroianni) is an innocent nine-year-old living in Iran, surrounded by a loving but incredibly protective mother (Catherine Deneuve) and father (Simon Abkarian). She finds comfort in the carefree spirit of her loving grandmother (Danielle Darrieux), as well as music by artists as diverse as ABBA and Iron Maiden. When Marjane's uncle is killed in the Iran/Iraq war, her parents send her to school in Austria, where she can study in safety. The only trouble is that her Middle Eastern appearance frightens people, giving her a harsh lesson in racial prejudice. Somehow, Marjane's fiery spirit doesn't succumb to any of the negativity. Eventually, she returns home to Iran to be closer with her family. But even though she settles into married life, the tyrannical pressures of Iranian society force her to abandon her country once again, sending her to France on another journey. Satrapi and Paronnaud retain the stark, spare animated style of the graphic novels that inspired the film. This is a wise decision: the less specific they get in their visual presentation, the more universal their story becomes. PERSEPOLIS gives viewers several movies in one. It is equal parts coming-of-age story, history lesson, and an animated adventure tale.
| Features | 2007 Cannes Film Festival Press Conference | | Animated Scene Comparisons | | Audio Commentary On Select Scenes | | Audio: French, English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Dubbed: English | | Featurette: The Hidden Side Of Persepolis | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, Spanish |
| Entertainment Reviews
 | Persepolis - DVD Review By: Chris Barsanti - filmcritic.com DVD Reviews Published on: 6/13/2008 7:32 PM | |
What does one do, or even say, about a film that is, by any measurement that matters, perfect? When considering Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's finely etched animated adaptation of Satrapi's two-part autobiographical graphic novel about growing up in Tehran during the revolution and the Iran-Iraq War, the problem (if one could call it that) becomes particularly acute. By compressing into this film the myriad of themes that it handles, from religious oppression to teenage rebellion to cultural dissonance and war, the filmmakers could have easily encumbered it with a weight that would have outweighed its many sharp delights....read the full review |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Sony Pictures |
| Release Date: 6/24/2008 |
| Running Time: 113 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2007 | | Catalog ID: 22525 | | UPC: 00043396225251 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: French | | Available Audio Tracks: English Dubbed, French | | Available Subtitles: English, Spanish | | Video: B&W |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew | Xavier Rigault - Producer | | Vincent Paronnaud - Screenwriter | | Olivier Bernet - Composer | | Marc-Antoine Robert - Producer | | Chiara Mastroianni - Voice | | Simon Abkarian - Voice | | Catherine Deneuve - Voice | | Marjane Satrapi - Source Writer | | François Jerosme - Voice | | Marjane Satrapi - Screenwriter | | Danielle Darrieux - Voice | | Gabrielle Lopes - Voice | | Vincent Paronnaud - Director | | Marjane Satrapi - Director |
| Awards |
Oscar (2008) | | | Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud, Nominee, Best Animated Feature Film of the Year | |
Golden Globe (2008) | | | Persepolis, Nominee, Best Foreign Language Film | |
Image Award (2008) | | | Persepolis, Nominee, Outstanding Independent or Foreign Film | |
Independent Spirit (2008) | | | Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi, Nominee, Best Foreign Film | |
Cannes Film Festival (2007) | | | Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud, Nominee, Golden Palm Award |  | Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi, Winner, Jury Prize |
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| | Professional Reviews | Film Comment
"Mixing memoir, history, and childhood fantasy, Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's PERSEPOLIS glides effortlessly from one realm to another." 11/01/2007 p.70-71New York Times
"[A] tale that unfolds with such grace, intelligence and charm that you almost take the wondrous aspects of its execution for granted." 12/26/2007 Box Office
"By turns lyrical, serious, funny and acerbic, PERSEPOLIS raises the bar for animation and illustrates the true power of storytelling in illuminating the world and its conflicts." 01/01/2008 p.46-47 Los Angeles Times
"[I]t's a paean to the universality of human experience, a testament to the endurance of individuality during great political and fanatical upheaval..." 12/25/2007 Entertainment Weekly
"[T]he sassy, nonchalant juxtaposition of political and personal specificity in PERSEPOLIS is a marvel." -- Grade: A 01/18/2008 p.66 Rolling Stone
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "It's a mind-blower. Using a few deft strokes of her black pen, Satrapi brings a whole world to life." 01/24/2008 p.71 Empire
4 stars out of 5 -- "This largely black-and-white, defiantly undetailed and sometimes stylised film could have been made at any point since the dawn of cinema, and yet it's a thoroughly modern affair." 05/01/2008 p.46 Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "[S]martly wry, searching and truthful....The confidence of this self-portrait proves one thing: Satrapi sure found her creative vocation." 06/01/2008 p.51 Sight and Sound
"[A] movie made up of small, telling moments that gifts us with much larger truths." 05/01/2008 p.75 Uncut
3 stars out of 5 -- "PERSEPOLIS offers an excellent, child's-eye guide to recent Iranian history." 06/01/2008 p.122 Reel.com 10 of 10
What does one say about a film that is, by any measurement that matters, perfect? When considering Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's finely etched animated adaptation of Satrapi's two-part autobiographical graphic novel about growing up in Tehran during the revolution and the Iran-Iraq War, the problem (if one could call it that) becomes particularly acute. By compressing into this film the myriad of themes that it handles, from religious oppression to teenage rebellion to cultural dissonance and war, the filmmakers could have easily encumbered it with a weight that would have outweighed its many sharp delights. But by some strange and fortunate circumstance born out of vision, patience, luck, and sheer unmitigated talent, they have managed to incorporate each of those weighty topics into a work of art that's light as a feather, in the manner of a true masterpiece...Nicely avoiding the melodrama that would be almost inescapable were any of the above rendered in live action, Persepolis keeps a wicked gleam in its protagonist's eye all throughout, reminding us that there will be no sob story, though tears are likely to fall. This is a cold tale of geopolitical realties told in a French-inflected fairy-tale spirit. This is a lament for lost glories, for the wonders of a proud civilization being ground into the dirt by power-mad fanatics. - Chris Barsanti
Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
Marjane, voiced as a child by Gabrielle Lopes and as a teenager and adult by Chiara Mastroianni, is a sprightly kid, encouraged in her rambunction by her parents (voiced by Catherine Deneuve and Simon Abkarian) and applauded by her outspoken grandmother (Danielle Darrieux). She dotes on the stories of her spellbinding Uncle Anouche (Francois Jerosme), who has been in prison and sometimes in hiding, but gives her a vision of the greater world...In real life, Marjane Satrapi eventually found a congenial home in France. I imagine Paris offered no less decadence than Vienna, but her experiences had made her into a woman more sure of herself and her values, and she grew into -- well, the author of books and this film, which dramatize so meaningfully what her life has been like. For she is no heroine, no flag-waving idealist, no rebel, not always wise, sometimes reckless, but with strong family standards...It might seem that her story is too large for one 98-minute film, but "Persepolis" tells it carefully, lovingly and with great style. It is infinitely more interesting than the witless coming-of-age Western girls we meet in animated films; in spirit, in gumption, in heart, Marjane resembles someone like the heroine is "Juno" -- not that she is pregnant at 16, of course. While so many films about coming of age involve manufactured dilemmas, here is one about a woman who indeed does come of age, and magnificently. - Roger Ebert
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