Persepolis (2007)

Directed by: Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi | 95 minutes | drama, animation, comedy | Original voice cast: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Simon Abkarian, Gabrielle Lopes Benites, Danielle Darrieux, François Jerosme, Arié Elmaleh, Mathias Mlekuz, Jean-François Gallotte, Stéphane Foenkinos, Tilly Mandelbrot, Gena Rowlands, Sean Penn, Iggy Pop

‘Persepolis’ is a compelling and magnificent animation film with a highly autobiographical character. Marjane Satrapi is a well-known cartoonist of Iranian descent. During and after the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, she grew up in Tehran in a modern, Western-oriented family.

The story begins in 1978 in Tehran (Iran). Marjane is then eight years old, crazy about martial arts films with Bruce Lee and she likes punk music very much. Outside there are constant demonstrations against the Shah. Marjane doesn’t quite understand what it’s all about yet. As a young girl she finds it all exciting and those slogans appeal to her. She lives in a wealthy family that dreams of further democratic developments. She too dreams of participating in the revolution that wants to force the Shah to resign, after which ‘everything’ will become much better. However, that euphoria is short-lived. The new rulers also strike hard and impose their will and convictions ruthlessly. Dissidents are dealt with even harder than under the Shah.

An uncle of Marjane is executed and a war against Iran is also started from Iraq. All this prompts Marjane’s parents to send her to a school in Vienna. Marjane is going through her own revolution there: in the field of freedom and love, but also in loneliness. She returns to her family in Tehran, but the circumstances are obviously unfavourable. She is going to study and is constantly making critical noises. These clash with the prevailing dictatorial views. Yet she continues to fight her own battle. When she is 24 she realizes that she will have to leave the country and then goes to live in France.

‘Persepolis’ shows that animation can produce high-quality cinema for adults. The film is not only very cleverly made with extremely sober, but also atmospheric, mainly black-and-white animation drawings. The film is also a masterly sketch of the developments in the contemporary history of Iran. Not everyone is a fundamentalist, at illegal parties alcohol is sometimes drunk and women take off the chador, which is not mandatory.

The film not only deals with (the consequences of) the Islamic Revolution, but also shows as a history lesson how the Shah’s father was installed with the help of the British and how his son later set up an (enlightened?) dictatorship that would protect the USA. was minded. The strongly politically tinted criticism of the situation in Iran has obviously not gone down well with the ruling fundamentalist regime.

This animated film is so strongly constructed that the story is more than convincing and believable. Due to its narrative power but at the same time its manageability, the film is suitable for a wide cinema audience, much larger than the small crowd of fans of animated film.

Does it all sound like heavy fare to you? It’s not exactly that: the storytelling and many situations in the film are full of villainous humour. So there is plenty to laugh about at the way in which some situations are poked fun at. Magisterial and magnificent. Every superlative falls short of this diamond!