Persepolis
In the midst of buffering subjects such as gender equality and “running world” girls, a mirroring story of Marjane Satrapi — a tactful yet brave young girl reveals a striking autobiography of how a girl that encounters the Islamic Revolution, deceives fundamentalist rules and listens to punk during the terror of the Iran/Iraq war, finally escapes somehow from — but eventually runs back to herself.
Based on her graphic novel, Persepolis: The story of a childhood , Marjane Satrapi unveils a touching look into her personal and cultural identity. Keeping the women from her family close to the story, she creates a natural bond between the audience and her sense of feminity, as well as the first signs of attitude towards religion and politics. She learns the history of her family just in time, but she also grasps the first signs of a war — as Iraq invades Iran, Marjane faces various events that make her loose hope of whether the terror upon her family will stop. As an act of rebellion and drive to leave her childhood behind, she cuts the chord with smoking her first cigarette. As she looses a member of family and a close friend, her rebellion starts to condemn her current system and advances with her rebellious acts-getting her expelled from school. In order to be protected from extreme measures (Marjane could face death by execution), the girl is sent to Austria and attend a French school. The second part opens with Marjane in the city capital of Vienna, where she is mesmerized with supermarkets, lives with a not so graceful landlady, discovers a passion for pasta, and falls in and out of love. After 4 years spent in Austria, Marjane returns to Tehran. She tries to get her life back on track, by attending school and getting married, but she still faces a political regime that she cannot stand. After getting married and finishing her master thesis degree, the now grown up woman decides to separate from her husband and once again, do what her grandmother told her — stay true to herself. Her leave to Europe will be permanent this time, but her better life will ultimately face the price of never seeing her grandmother again.
Shot in black-and-white, the movie Persepolis cannot be compared with any other animation. Using a few deft strokes of black pen, Satrapi brings a her whole intimate life with her, and reaches to the audience by touching all its senses. In a few words, you get to meet the girl, voiced by Chiara Mastroianni the only child of a mother Catherine Deneuve who warily tolerates her rebellion and the grandchild of a woman Danielle Darrieux who actively encourages it.
Today, Satrapi lives in France, is a novelist, illustrator, film director and children’s book author. Her movie, a personal and intimate statement, is funny and dark at the same time, but always managing to strike the right tone.
