Persepolis

Persepolis is the poignant story of a young girl in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. It is through the eyes of precocious and outspoken nine year old Marjane that we see the people's hope dashed as fundamentalists take power - forcing the veil on woman and imprisoning thousands. Clever and fearless, she outsmarts the "social guardians" and discovers punk. 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. 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.

[-/+] Watch the Movie Trailer

Visit the Official Website

Release Date: December 25, 2007
Genre: Art, Foreign, Animation and Adaptation
Running Time: 95 min.
Distributor(s): Sony Pictures Classics
Tagline:
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material including violent images, sexual references, language and brief drug content.

Directors:
Marjane Satrapi - Co-Director
Vincent Paronnaud - Co-Director

Writer(s):
Marjane Satrapi - Screenplay (adaptation)
Vincent Paronnaud - Screenplay (adaptation)
Marjane Satrapi - Source Material (from graphic novels: "Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood" and "Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return")

Producer(s):
Marc-Antoine Robert - Producer
Xavier Rigault - Producer
Tara Grace - Co-Producer
Kathleen Kennedy - Associate Producer

Movie Casts:
Chiara Mastroianni - Marjane 'Marji' Satrapi, as a teenager and a woman (voice)
Catherine Deneuve - Mrs. Statrapi, Marjane's mother (voice)
Danielle Darrieux - Marjane's grandmother (voice)
Simon Abkarian - Mr. Satrapi, Marjane's mather (voice)
Gabrielle Lopes Benites - Marjane enfant (voice)
Gabrielle Lopes - Marjane as a child (voice)
François Jerosme - Anouche (voice)
Arié Elmaleh - (voice)
Mathias Mlekuz - (voice)
Jean-François Gallotte
Stéphane Foenkinos
Tilly Mandelbrot - Lali (voice)
Sean Penn - (voice: English version)
Iggy Pop - (voice: English version)
Gena Rowlands - Grandmother (voice: English version)