Persepolis (2007)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Directors:

Vincent Paronnaud
Marjane Satrapi

Writers:

Vincent Paronnaud (screenplay)
Marjane Satrapi (comic & screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

27 June 2007 (France)

Genre:

Animation | Biography | Drama | War

Plot:

Poignant coming-of-age story of a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl that begins during the Islamic Revolution.

Plot Keywords:

France | Adaptation Directed By Original Author | Blizzard | Expatriate | Taxicab

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 15 wins & 21 nominations

Cast

Chiara Mastroianni	...	Marjane 'Marji' Satrapi, as a teenager and a woman (voice)
Catherine Deneuve	...	Mrs. Satrapi - Marjane's mother (voice)
Danielle Darrieux	...	Marjane's grandmother (voice)
Simon Abkarian	...	Mr. Satrapi - Marjane's father (voice)
Gabrielle Lopes	...	Marjane as a child (voice)
François Jerosme	...	Anouche (voice)
Arié Elmaleh	...	(voice)
Mathias Mlekuz	...	(voice)
Jean-François Gallotte
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stéphane Foenkinos
Tilly Mandelbrot	...	Lali (voice)
Sean Penn	...	Mr. Satrapi - Marjane's father (voice: English version)
Iggy Pop	...	(voice: English version)

Directed by
Vincent Paronnaud
Marjane Satrapi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Vincent Paronnaud		screenplay
Marjane Satrapi		comic & screenplay
Marjane Satrapi		novel

Produced by
Tara Grace	....	co-producer
Marc Jousset	....	executive producer
Kathleen Kennedy	....	executive producer
Xavier Rigault	....	producer
Marc-Antoine Robert	....	producer

Original Music by
Olivier Bernet

Film Editing by
Stéphane Roche

Production Design by
Marisa Musy

Production Management
Olivier Bizet	....	production manager
Christina Crassaris	....	post-production supervisor

Art Department
Marc Jousset	....	artistic director
Thierry Million	....	lead background artist

Sound Department
Samy Bardet	....	sound editor
Samy Bardet	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jacques Defrance	....	foley artist
Thierry Lebon	....	sound re-recording mixer
Johann Nallet	....	sound recordist
Philippe Penot	....	foley artist
Greg Steele	....	adr mixer
Jean-Alexandre Villemer	....	sound recordist
Greg Zimmerman	....	adr recordist

Visual Effects by
Jimmy Capron	....	scanning operator
Cosenza Cyril	....	research & development supervisor
Frank Miyet	....	supervision tracé
Stéphane Roche	....	animatics

Animation Department
Damien Barrau	....	animator: 2D
Pascal Chevet	....	animator
Christian Desmares	....	animation coordinator
Cecile Dubois-Herry	....	assistant animator
Nathalie Mathé	....	cg animator
Thierry Peres	....	assistant animator
Jung Wang	....	layout supervisor

Casting Department
Sylvie Peyrucq	....	voice casting

Editorial Department
Christian Dutac	....	color timer

Other crew
John Charles	....	software manager: Sony DAC
Hengameh Panahi	....	world sales head: celluloid dreams
Charles-Edouard Renault	....	legal counsel

Production Companies

• 2.4.7. Films
• Kennedy/Marshall Company, The (co-production)
• France 3 Cinéma (co-production)
• French Connection Animations (co-production)
• Diaphana Films (co-production)
• Celluloid Dreams (in association with)
• Sony Pictures Classics (in association with)
• Sofica Europacorp (in association with)
• Soficinéma (in association with)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• Région Ile-de-France (support)
• Fondation GAN pour le Cinéma (support)
• Procirep (support)
• Angoa-Agicoa (support)

Distributors

• Cinéart (2007) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Diaphana Films (2007) (France) (theatrical)
• Filmcoopi Zürich (2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• A-Film Distribution (2008) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• ArtCam (2007) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• ArtCam (2007) (Slovakia) (theatrical)
• Bir Film (2007) (Turkey) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2008) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Celluloid Dreams (2007) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Europa Filmes (2007) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• Festive Films (2008) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Green Light Films (2007) (Iceland) (theatrical)
• Gutek Film (2007) (Poland) (theatrical)
• Longride (2008) (Japan) (theatrical)
• PCV (2007) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Prokino Filmverleih (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Rosebud (2007) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution Sverige AB (2007) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2007) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Metronome International (2007) (Denmark) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Metronome Norge (2007) (Norway) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray Disc)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2008) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Sponge (2007) (South Korea) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• Vértigo Films (2007) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Weinstein Company, The (2007) (Australia) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Donna Daniels Public Relations  public relations: USA
• Dreamachine  international sales
• Toho Company  Gojira/Godzilla is a trademark of

Also Known As:

Persépolis (Argentina) (Mexico) (Spain) [es]
Persepolis (Finland) [fi]
Persepolis (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Persepolis (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Persepolis (Greece) [el]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material including violent images, sexual references, language and brief drug content.

Runtime:

96 min | France:95 min | Turkey:89 min (TV version)

Country:

France | USA

Language:

French | English | Persian | German

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | France:U | USA:PG-13 | Canada:14A | Finland:K-11 | Sweden:7 | Singapore:PG | Brazil:12 | Ireland:12A | Netherlands:6 | Taiwan:R-12 | UK:12A (2008) | Germany:12 | Argentina:Atp | South Korea:12 | Australia:M

Company:

2.4.7. Films

Trivia:

France's official submission for the Best Foreign-Language Film category at The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008) (TV).

Goofs:

Continuity: When it is 1992, Marji marries. Her mother says her that she is just 21 years old. But in last minutes of movie, it is written 22.11.1969 as her date of birth. So when she got married, she is at least 23 years old.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Airport receptionist: Ticket and passport, please.

Movie Connections:

References Gojira (1954)

Soundtrack:

Roses de Sud

A wonderful told story with a unique style

Persepolis tells the amazing story of a young girl growing up in Iran around the time of the Islamic Revolution. Marjane Satrapi does a wonderful job of bringing her story to life and drawing the viewer into her what it was to grow up during a time of political revolution. Using a unique style of animation, that closely follows the style of the graphic novel, the audience is pulled into a world that is much different than the world they are used to.

Marjane's story is often times humorous and often times heart breaking without resorting to heavy handed sentimentalism that is often seen in Hollywood movies. There were times that I laughed out loud during the movie, particularly the "Eye of the Tiger" sequence which had me in stitches. Other times during the film I had to wipe a tear from my eye. I won't spoil any of those moments for anyone, but there were parts of the film that left me crushed.

The characters in the story were all very interesting and all seemed very real. I loved watching Marjane grow from a child to an adult and seeing how she dealt with struggles as extreme as a revolution and as simple as the end of a relationship. Most of the supporting characters were interesting as well and extremely well thought out. The most memorable of the side characters though, would have to be Marjane's grandmother. She almost acted as Marjane's moral compass throughout the film and in most cases she did it with a great cynicism and humor that only someone who has lived through so much could have.

As an American I will probably never know what it is like to live in a state of such political oppression as the one depicted in the film. It is an extremely hard thing to even imagine what people go through during such political struggles. However, one of the things that makes this movie unique is that a lot of it is told from the point of view of a child that does not really understand the politics of what is going on around her. This really helped draw me into the movie. Since I do not understand what it is like to be in the situation, having the story told from the point of view of someone that doesn't really grasp the enormity of the events unfolding around her really helped to bring me into the story. It was very helpful in trying to comprehend the scale of what was happening in the movie, not that I claim to totally comprehend what this young girl must have gone through.

The animation style of the film is definitely interesting and unique. It is a lot different than anything I have seen before and I really enjoyed the style that was used. The more simplistic animation that was used definitely worked well with the story being told from the point of view of a child. The child in the story could not totally grasp all the details of what was going on during the revolution and having a less detailed style of animation definitely helped emphasize this. Also, having a style of animation that was so different than what audience are used to also helped emphasize that we were viewing a world that was, in many ways, much different than our own.

Overall I really enjoyed the film and it is one that I may eventually want to see again. I really would like to read the graphic novels that it was based on and probably even a few of the other graphic novels written by Marjane Satrapi. I think she is a wonderful talent and I hope she continues to make such interesting films, perhaps bringing some of her other graphic novels to the big screen.