Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: Blu-ray
Brand: Sony
EAN: 0043396256125
Format: AC-3
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-06-24
Running Time: 96
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
MPN: 25612

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.

Customer Rating:
Summary: graphic novel come to life
Comment: Movies don't come much more boldly original or stylistically unique than the animated hit "Persepolis," an autobiographical tale of life under a totalitarian regime as seen through the eyes of a spirited Iranian girl named Marjane Satrapi, who, after immigrating to France, wrote the graphic novel upon which the film (co-directed by Satrapi herself) is based. Satrapi was a wide-eyed, inquisitive youngster when, in 1978, the Shah of Iran was toppled and a new era of freedom appeared to be dawning for that nation's people. Unfortunately, as is so often the case with revolutions, the new regime - in this case, the fundamentalist Islamic Republic led by the Ayatollah Khomeini- turned out to be even more cruel, dictatorial and repressive than the one that got overthrown.

As the central character in the movie, Marjane is both an observer of and a participant in the many events that play out in the story, as any number of her own relatives and neighbors fall victim to the systematic purging of all those who refuse to adhere to the present regime`s newly enacted draconian measures (women must go out in burkas and head scarves, lovers are not allowed to hold hands in public, etc.) - while those who remain behind live in constant fear that they will find themselves in jail or up in front of a firing squad for a simple, perhaps even inadvertent, code violation. Yet, despite all the bleakness and repression, hope and freedom of thought somehow miraculously flourish and prevail in the human heart, as exemplified by Marjane who refuses to yield her rebellious spirit (she buys bootleg Iron Maiden CDs from hawkers on the street) to the forces that would suppress and imprison it.

In terms of style, "Persepolis" relies on old-school cell drawings rather than computer graphics for its animation. The starkness of the times and of the setting is enhanced by the simple, "flat" look of the largely black-and-white drawings. Yet, the movie is a veritable cornucopia of visual delights, thanks to the animators' generous use of surrealism and magical realism throughout the picture. (If the movie reminds us of any one film, it is probably "Yellow Submarine").

In quick, bold strokes, director Satrapi, along with her co-director Vincent Paronnaud and their team of expert animators, chronicles not only her own experience but that of an entire nation as well.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Movie memoirs, it turns out, are as annoying as book memoirs.
Comment: Persepolis (Vincent Peronnaud and Marjane Satrapi, 2007)

I'm not sure why I expected the film version of Persepolis to be different than the book--which I enjoyed but wasn't nearly as impressed with as everyone else seems to have been--but I did. As it turns out, it wasn't different at all, save for making certain parts of the book stand out in even starker contrast to their surrounding scenes (such as the embarrassingly awful "Eye of the Tiger" sequence, which I can't believe anyone involved with the movie wasn't horrified enough to excise before this thing ever made it to a theater).

I'm the first to admit that my antipathy towards both book and movie stems from my dislike of memoirs, which tend to be the work of uninteresting people who have led uninteresting lives trying to cash in on the more interesting things that happened around them. Persepolis is no different in this regard (and Satrapi has since gone on two author more books, all of which are, unsurprisingly, either memoir or biography). If you're one of the millions who currently goes gaga over memoirs, you're probably going to love this. I don't like memoirs, and had the expected reaction. Half a star dropped for that painful "Eye of the Tiger" thing. * ½

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly powerful
Comment: We have become accustomed to slick, technically amazing cartoons produced by Disney and Pixar. Here is something completely different -- an animated movie produced by humans drawing with pencils on paper in black and white where the emphasis is on the story. We experience the Iranian Islamic Revolution and its brutal aftermath through the eyes of one young Iranian girl and her family.
This is recent history that needs to be retold and remembered because Iran looms so large on the world stage today. With its president spewing hatred on Israel and its scientists racing to acquire a nuclear weapon, we should remember how these extremists came to power and what they did to their own people once they had grasped it.
The movie is scrupulously fair, depicting the brutality of the Shah followed by the much greater savagery of the Islamic regime which succeeded it. We see women harassed for "improper" dress, parties busted, families searched for illegal alcohol. We see the hardship and suffering Iranians had to endure during the 8-year war with Iraq. Most of all, we see the effect of such intolerance and extremism on the delicate psyche of one bright, intelligent woman who wants nothing other than to grow up to be free and to realize her potential.
There are many charming and funny incidents in this movie -- it's not a complete downer. The serious story it tells is one we can all identify with.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Some UK reviewers have criticized it, but ...
Comment: Some UK reviewers have criticized Marjane for seemingly complaining that the Iranian regime tried to stop her and her associates from partying. I would not defend partying of this kind, but it is evident that these critical reviewers have not had the experience of living under a tyrannical regime. I would not wish it on anyone. To dissociate oneself from a pervasive and dominant foli à plusieurs is incredibly difficult and many people go insane in the attempt or commit suicide.

In fact this book and DVD is very helpful in understanding how many people inevitably react in a repressive, authoritarian regime when trying to maintain a personal integrity. If you squeeze a balloon in one place, it will splurge out in another - often in an unpalatable way. What amazes me is how dissidents manage to remain sane in authoritarian regimes of this nature. The author, and her family, should be commended for having done so. It also takes courage to produce an account of this sort.

I would unreservedly recommend "Persepolis", both in book form and in DVD format, despite the inevitable unpalatability of some of the content. It may be uncomfortable, but it should function a warning to us as to what could happen even in currently 'democratic' states unless we face reality now and stop engaging in denial.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Necessary to understand the value of freedom
Comment: I recommend this movie to evreyone, specially to those that doubt about the good of freedom. This film has a lot to do in some way with wat is happening in Venezuela. A similar type of government is destroying all sorts of liberties. You can see through this film the luck we have to live in free countries and the importance of the values of a free society. The animation is really good and a some scenes are funny. A must see

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