Persepolis (film)

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Persepolis
Directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
Written by Screenplay:
Marjane Satrapi
Vincent Paronnaud
Comic Book:
Marjane Satrapi
Starring Chiara Mastroianni
Catherine Deneuve
Danielle Darrieux
Simon Abkarian
Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
Release date(s) France:
May 23, 2007
United States:
December 25, 2007
Canada:
January 11, 2008
United Kingdom:
April 25, 2008
Running time 95 min
Country France
Language French, Persian, English, German
Budget $7,300,000
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile
Marjane Satrapi at the premiere of Persepolis
Marjane Satrapi at the premiere of Persepolis
This article is about the animated movie. For other uses, see Persepolis (disambiguation).

Persepolis is a 2007 animated film based on Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novel of the same name. The film was written and directed by Satrapi with Vincent Paronnaud. The story follows a young girl as she comes of age against the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution, and shows how her family's hopes for change were slowly dashed as the Islamic fundamentalists took power, drastically curtailing personal liberties, forcing head coverings on women and imprisoning thousands; the story ends with Marjane as a 21-year-old expatriate. The title is a reference to the historic city of Persepolis.

The film won the Jury Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival[1] and was released in France and Belgium on June 27. In her acceptance speech, Satrapi said "Although this film is universal, I wish to dedicate the prize to all Iranians."[2] The film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

The film was released in the United States on December 25, 2007 and in the United Kingdom on April 24, 2008.

Contents

[edit] Technique

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The film is black and white in the style of the original graphic novels. The "present day" scenes are shown in color, while sections of the historic narrative resemble a shadow theater show. To help with the translation of the comic to animation, art director and executive producer Marc Jousset came up with the design. The animation is credited to the Perseprod studio and was created by two specialized studios: Je Suis Bien Content and Pumpkin 3D.

[edit] Cast

The voice actors in the original French version include:

The film was released in Canada with the original French soundtrack and English subtitles; the US release was redubbed in English for some locations. Mastroianni and Deneuve reprise their roles in English, but Father is played by Sean Penn, Uncle Anouche by Iggy Pop and Grandmother by Gena Rowlands.

[edit] Responses

[edit] Critical reception

The film received substantially positive reviews. As of February 4, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 96% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 94 reviews.[3] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 90 out of 100, based on 29 reviews.[4]

Persepolis was applauded by film critics in France, Germany[citation needed] and USA.

Time magazine's Richard Corliss named the film one of the Top 10 Movies of 2007, ranking it at #6. Corliss praised the film, calling it “a coming-of-age tale, that manages to be both harrowing and exuberant.”[5][6]

[edit] Reviews

[edit] Top ten lists

The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007.[7]

[edit] Awards

[edit] DVD release

Persepolis will be on DVD and Blu-ray on June 24, 2008.

[edit] Criticism

[edit] Reaction of Iranian government

The film has drawn complaints from the Iranian government. Even before its debut at the Cannes Film Festival, the government-connected organisation Iran Farabi Foundation sent a letter to the French embassy in Tehran stating, "This year the Cannes Film Festival, in an unconventional and unsuitable act, has chosen a movie about Iran that has presented an unrealistic face of the achievements and results of the glorious Islamic Revolution in some of its parts."[8]

In June 2007, the film was dropped from the lineup of the Bangkok International Film Festival following pressure from the Iranian government. Festival director Chattan Kunjara na Ayudhya stated, "I was invited by the Iranian embassy to discuss the matter and we both came to mutual agreement that it would be beneficial to both countries if the film was not shown" and "It is a good movie in artistic terms, but we have to consider other issues that might arise here."[9][10]

Despite such objections, the Iranian cultural authorities relented in February of 2008 and allowed limited screenings of the film in Tehran, albeit with half a dozen scenes deleted due to sexual content. [11]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "List of Cannes Film Festival winners", Associated Press, 2007-05-27. Retrieved on 2007-05-27. 
  2. ^ Persepolis on the official site of the Cannes Film Festival
  3. ^ Persepolis - Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
  4. ^ Persepolis (2007): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
  5. ^ Corliss, Richard; “The 10 Best Movies”; Time magazine; December 24, 2007; Page 40.
  6. ^ Corliss, Richard; “The 10 Best Movies”; time.com
  7. ^ Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
  8. ^ "Iran Protests 'Persepolis' Screening", ForexTV, 2007-05-21. 
  9. ^ "Politics puncture "Persepolis" plans", Variety Asia, 2007-06-26. 
  10. ^ "Thailand pulls Iranian cartoon from film festival", Reuters, 2007-06-27. 
  11. ^ "Rare Iran screening for controversial film 'Persepolis'", AFP, 2008-02-14. 

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Red Road		 Jury Prize, Cannes
2007
tied with Silent Light		 Succeeded by
n/a