User reviews

The black-and-white animation, highly stylized and two dimensions which doesn't attempt to render the usual cartoon 3-D, summarizes in quick, intelligent flashes, often impressionistic, growing up in Teheran and Vienna from a highly personal point of view. The narrative is as original as the art. The narrator, Marjane Satrapi, only daughter of an educated Teheran couple, first sketches in briefly how the Shah first came to power,only to lose it and have it replaced by the fanatical religious regime of today. Educated in a French school, she and her family are rapidly alienated from the so-called revolution; she is sent to Vienna to continue her education, falls in with a group of punks and eventually returns both depressed and disillusioned to Teheran where, with other university students, she must submit to the rule of extreme Islamists.

The story covers a great deal of ground from the point of view of a young pro-Western culture radical, and is told with humor and intelligence. She laughs at herself as much as at the semi-lunatic Guards of the Revolution.

Satrapi's hold on reality is much strengthened under the influence of her highly honest grandmother who teaches her not co compromise, not to betray and not to give in.

This is no fairy tale with flying horses and beautiful princesses, but a serious, unsentimental and sometimes brutally honest film covering, among other events, the story of the millions of Iranians and Iraqis who died in a now forgotten seven year war around the Persian Gulf.

I came out of this movie feeling as if I knew Marjane Satrapi. The way in which the story is told is fantastic - it really is as if you're reading her journal. As she grows up from being a young girl to an adult, at each age the story is told with a corresponding maturity, and highlighting things which seem like very personal memories. As a young girl, the stories she is told are very black and white, and as she gets older the complexity increases, which is exactly what you would expect. Although there is lots of political activity, she makes fun of herself and highlights her own shortcomings as much as she highlights the repressive elements in her homeland. By telling of her own experiences it really is extremely easy to see how so much of it is common to a whole generation of Iranians. Her love of her family and her country came across very strongly, and you really felt as if she had laid herself bare. A moving and entertaining movie as much as it is educational about post-1979 Iran.

I rated this film a 9 more as a visual complement to the comic book (of two volumes, now bound as one), which I believe to be a masterpiece. If you left the film less than emotionally attached to the characters, PLEASE give the book a chance, because, as is often the case, episodes and histories of a lot of the characters, including Marjane, are left out to adapt the story to a film medium. Having said that, there are great sequences, expressionistic animation, and the wiseass grandma is left fully intact from the books! I can understand why some people weren't emotionally compelled by it though, since the movie doesn't take the time to fill the audience in on all the quirkiness and endearing qualities of the characters as Satrapi originally conceived them.

...in fact, there is nothing average about this film. Traditionally animated in black and white flashbacks, it tells the story of a French-speaking woman's childhood and young adulthood in Tehran, Iran, and in Vienna during the 1980s and '90s.

Marjane Satrapi grew up in a family of revolutionaries against the Shah's regime and the Islamic government that subsequently took hold, and the film literally illustrates her feelings and thought processes as a little girl, following her as the government control in Iran got more and more strict. When her parents insist she leave the country, we also see her struggling to deal with adolescence and missing her beloved family; when she returns, she is also coping with the increasing repression of her freedoms as a woman. Most of all, you see her own personal conflict as she tries to stay true to herself.

This movie beautifully balances both the historic and personal issues and pulls the threads together into a compelling narrative, made a bit quirky by the style of presentation, resulting in work that is altogether touching. Along with intelligence and humor, a deep and strong sense of truth infuses every part of this film, making it even stronger. One of my only qualms was the feeling that it ended somewhat abruptly without much of a conclusion.

Overall, though, it was fantastic - definitely worth watching.

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.

Persepolis is one of the most thoughtful, poignant and original films I have ever seen. Hang on, "poignant" and "thoughful", an animated movie (and based on a comic-book, on top of that)? Exactly, because coincidentally Persepolis also happens to be the first really adult "cartoon" I've had the pleasure to watch (Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly don't count, as they were filmed with real actors first, and subsequently modified in post-production). For all their good intentions, the likes of Dreamworks and Pixar always have an eye for what the little ones want to see, while The Simpsons, despite the occasional "mature" storyline (basically Homer and Marge's sex life), contains nothing a 12-year old isn't supposed to see. As for Family Guy and South Park, they might be aimed at grown-ups with their merciless satire and, in the case of the latter series, explicit language, but are made with an almost puerile sense of joy which prompts younger kids to watch them in secret. Persepolis, on the other hand, deals with adult themes in a serious, unpretentious way. So yes, it is an animated film. Yes, it is based on a comic-book. And yes, there is the occasional neat movie reference (Rocky III being the most memorable one). That doesn't mean it's a kids' movie, though; it just means the picture was made with a particular style because it was the most effective way to tell this specific story.

And what is so special about the story? Well, it is an account of what is going on in contemporary Iran, a topic that is more relevant today than it's ever been before. And the extra layer of poignancy derives from the fact that co-director Marjane Satrapi experienced every single event in the film. After moving to France to avoid the increasingly oppressive political situation that had developed in Teheran (which the ancient Greeks called Persepolis, hence the movie's title), she published her autobiography in the form of a graphic novel, which immediately became a cult phenomenon. With the help of artist Vincent Paronnaud, the stylized drawings have become a motion picture which has already conquered critics and won several awards (the Jury Prize in Cannes being one of them).

The film's strict adherence to the book's style makes for simple but powerful viewing: the simple pictures ensure the story doesn't need to be filtered, but can be understood right away, while the use of black and white provide the images with a strength that would otherwise be missing. A good example is a scene depicting a demonstration against the despotic regime in Iran and the subsequent shooting of one of the protesters, whose body is left lying on the ground: as his blood starts to flow, the corpse almost merges with the environment, giving the shot (pun not intended) an emotional relevance it wouldn't have, had the whole thing been in color. The choice of animation proves to be particularly effective in a most unusual choice for this kind of film, namely fantasy sequences: there is a hilarious moment, for instance, when Marjane, during a stay in Vienna, looks back on her disappointment in love and sees her ex-boyfriend as a depraved freak; live-action would have ruined that scene, undoubtedly. As it is, however, it comes off not as a bizarre formal experiment, but a fundamental tool for understanding the heroine's psychology.

That said, it should also be noted that Persepolis isn't just a bold take on the difficulties in the Middle East. As seen in Clint Eastwoood's Iwo Jima double bill, the line between "heroes" and "villains" is very thin, and the film never misses the opportunity to show how bad our own society can be: Marjane ends up hating Europe more than her home-country, and at the beginning a flashback shows the British government's role in manipulating Iranian politics for money's sake. Incidentally, the latter scene is depicted as a puppet show, providing a new, fresh angle: what sets truth apart from fiction?

Persepolis works because it handles an uncomfortable subject with grace, using a simple but constantly effective storytelling technique and never once pandering to audience expectations with the usual 'toon gimmicks (even the casting proves that: except for Catherine Deneuve, who plays the low-key role of Marjane's mother, there are no famous voices in the feature). It sticks to traditions and stretches the medium at the same time, showing that animation is no longer a "children's genre" and therefore delivering a new way to look at film-making and its possibilities. For this reason, and several more, it is one of the best pictures of 2007.

This is a marvelous film. The voice actors in French are superb; I'm not sure whether it will translate in an English dub. The animation is charming; you forget that it's mostly black and white, and remember only how beautiful it is. It is both bleak and hilarious, chilling and human. The "Eye Of The Tiger" scene is awesome for being so amateurishly sung in heavily accented English and only just in key. I learned a great deal about modern Iranian history, and relived a great deal of childhood and adolescence (albeit not in a sophomoric way).

I saw it at a free screening with about 6 other people before it was released, but I will be paying to see it again and dragging as many people as I can to see it with me. If you're reading this, I'd drag you to see it, too. It's a GREAT film, one that deserves all the awards it can garner, and not just as an animated film, but as a brilliant movie that just happens to be animated.

It's quite unusual for a writer to adapt its own book to the screen, especially when it's a comic-book (well, Frank Miller's done it, but that's another story), and especially when it's an autobiographical comic book. That's the originality of this movie, which is the adaptation of a autobiographical graphic novel by its very author. "Persepolis" deals with the life, and especially the youth of Marjane Satrapi, in Iran, during the reign of the Shah and the Islamic revolution. But if the memories could be easily told alone in front of a blank paper, isn't it harder to be true and sincere when you are surrounded by a all animation crew ?

That's the great achievement of the movie : to be true to the comics and therefor, to the life of Marjane. The best parts of it are all about her personal relations, with her grandmother or her uncle. You really have the feeling that she relates all this events to praise their memories and who they were. On the other side, the political scenes and historical point of view that supposedly are the goal of the movie seem to me a little less good than the family or personal souvenirs. It may be true but it seems a little bit simple and even cliché sometimes (see for instance the history of the Shah for all audiences). The personal view on the repercussion of the Islamic repression is way better than this kind of big exposes. The death of a young man trying to escape the police after a party or the attitude of a man insulting her mother in a parking tells us more about the regime in Iran than the speech the movie sometimes (but not so often) gives us.

So, paradoxically, the more personal the movie gets, the truer it is. The all rapport the difficulties to left your country and to adapt to another world seems for instance very honest and touching. The childhood period, told in a comic strip style is both funny and melancholic. In the end, this movie is far from being a movie about Iran, but only tells an individual life, crying for freedom in a country were a woman can't reach it, but transfigured by personal memories and a strong animated point of view, that uses all the techniques and styles a comic-book adaptation could offer.

In 1978, in Iran, the smart girl Marjane Satrapi lives the troubled period of the history of her country with the Islamic Revolution with her ideologist parents and grandmother. When she is a teenager, her parents send her to Vienna due to the war with Iraq. Marjane befriends a group of outcast students, finds love and deception and returns to her country to the arms of her family. However, the life with the fundamentalist in the government is repressive and she leaves her country again to live in France.

"Persepolis" is an interesting animation where the contemporary history of Iran is disclosed through the eyes of the lead character. This feature gives a great lesson of history highlighting the most important moments of the life of Iranian in their country. This dramatic animation has many levels but is highly recommended for adults and offers excellent dialogs and messages. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Persépolis"

Marjane Satrapi's venture to present the chronicle of the Iranian Islamic revolution filtered through the eyes of a lively and cheeky, French-educated young girl is bold and ambitious. To do so by the help of strong-silhouetted, axe-carved, triangle-nosed cartoon figures is even more peculiar. Her powerful heroine – Marjane, named by no coincidence after the creator – however, spectacularly succeeds in replacing and emulating any possible real flesh characters. She is intellectual, witty, utterly impudent and very funny; the essential Euro-kid of the wild and untamed 1970s and early 1980s.

This brilliant movie serves as a study proving that animation is more powerful and potent than ever before no matter how unsophisticated and basic the visual elements are. And although the technique used in Persepolis has long been present it can be said that perfection has just been achieved.

Satrapi's work is so very French: wantonly intellectual, acrimoniously witty, utterly sarcastic and outrageously funny. However, even this masterpiece could not escape common places and is not without disturbing occurrences of generalization of characters and situations. Still, you will have a wide and genuine smile on your face coming out of the theater. Persepolis is per se unique and compelling with the ability to make you smile at the right moments - when tension has built up too much.

Interesting demographics from IMDb: the age group that rated this movie the highest is "males under 18" (8.6). That is an enlightening piece of data.

In a nutshell the story is about an upper middle class girl in Teheran who grows up witnessing the political turbulence in 1970s Iran. That could make a good story, the problem is that "witnessing" may be too strong a word here, "staring blankly" would be closer to the mark. The protagonist does not seem to commit, care or even remotely understand any of the events around her and this applies to her at ALL ages depicted in the movie. It's flabbergasting to me how some reviewers could find her character engaging, while others go as far as praising her "courage". This is plain insulting to people who put their bodies on the line while the little spoiled brat just went to Vienna and Paris to drink, smoke and date as many dull and stupid guys as she could. And when she gets bored she goes back to Iran, because she loves her homeland so much (?).

The expressionistic visuals are good, but certainly fail to convey the drama of the revolution, war, and other emotional events depicted in the movie, rather lending them a surreal feel that is not what it should be like for relatively recent historical events. No single character has any depth to them, and this is not due to the movie being an animation. With the exception of the uncle everyone's motivations are shallow and hedonistic, which is not what you would expect in such turbulent times.

In a country of 75 million I'd bet my house that any random 40-year-old person you picked on the street would have a more interesting and engaging walk of life than the director/protagonist of this movie. But as the IMDb demographics show, if you are under 18, you'll probably like "Persepolis", learn some basics about a country called Iran and your 90 minutes will not be wasted.

Adapting "Persepolis" in my opinion was a very important project. Especially (but not only) during times of fear and extreme distrust regarding other ethnicities it's necessary to communicate better understanding for these cultures. Films are capable reach millions of people all around the world. Therefore this medium is a very effective way to do this (unfortunately it can also get misused in the opposite direction).

Seen from this cultural perspective "Persepolis" is an entertaining feature which also meets a certain social responsibility. To me it is the right picture at the right time. In a individually visualized way this animation picture shows Marjane Satrapis personal biography and gives you an idea about the historical background of the Iran and the way of living in this part of the world. Besides several tragic moments "Persepolis" never loses it's humour.

In a short: "Persepolis" is a very true and affectionate adaption of the original comic also drawn by Satrapi who directed the film. An important issue and not only for this reason I truly recommend it !

Persepolis tells the story of a young girl growing up during the revolution of Iran. She experiences many hardships, friends and family all dying around her and a new dictatorship even worse then the one they originally faced. Her parents decide to send her abroad to Vienna where she experiences more hardships. Having to deal with accepting her heritage, moving around from place to place, and dealing with heartbreak from unsuccessful relationships. She eventually returns to Iran where things have calmed down, but are still not any better then before. She deals with depression, more relationship problems and the pressures of the new regime. All the while she keeps her adventurous personality, and her happy-go-lucky attitude. Persepolis is not your typical animated film. It's a drama about life. The hardships the main character goes through are some that people go through every day. And while you might not relate to the living in a dictatorship part, you can relate to her problems and with her relationships to her friends and family. This film is a perfect example of how animation can be just as moving as live-action. This is a great movie. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Persepolis is a lovingly,hand drawn animated feature film from France, that tells the story of a young girl growing up in Iran,the daughter of left wing revolutionary parents,during the Islamic revolution. It spans something like 13 years in her life, from childhood,adolescence to early adulthood. It was taken from a graphic novel,published in France. Most of the prints in circulation are the French language version, but there is an English dubbed version (I thankfully saw the original French version,with English subtitles). What I really admired was the carefully nuanced use of colour (most of the flashback sequences are in black & white). In an era that is now overblown with 3D computer generated animation, it's refreshing to see somebody kicking it old school style (hand drawn). This is a film that is worth seeking out.

Inspired from Marjane Satrapi's graphic novels, "Persepolis" is a cinematic tour de force. Beautifully conceived and written, it never pulls punches as it chronicles the adventures of its protagonist while being able to display certain truths that have never been produced in a more digestible fashion. Even if the film is in black and white, ideas nevertheless go though the entire spectrum, with emphasis on integrity, courage and character: virtues that usually suffer in an incarcerating environment.

Divided in three acts, film follows Marjane Satrapi as she navigates through an oppressive environment, in both Iran and Austria, while on the lookout for her identity and self worth. As opposed to this year's "Waltz with Bashir", an animated political documentary, "Persepolis" is definitely a production of fiction and does not frame reality verbatim, however it paints a picture to Satrapi's personal experiences as close as possible. Politics and identity are the film's driving force, although is smartly perfunctory in making each of them not the cause or the effect.

Each frame is beautiful to look at and has definitely gone above and beyond its comic book counterpart. Using hand drawn techniques and a sense of whimsy missing from mechanical mainstream animated features, "Persepolis" cements that story is essential as an axis in storytelling. With a mainly black and white palette, the picture is nevertheless colorful with its depiction of characters, all of them inspiring and definitely breaks taboos on a stereotypical view of Persian living.

To contrast the film and its graphic novel roots is made redundant by its production, as it's conscious to steer clear from recreating the panels as is. Film is more cinematic in approach and fully takes advantage of its use of music and color. As opposed to the novel's more linear story telling, "Persepolis" follows a mainly flashback driven narrative which further emphasizes main protagonist's faint sense of nostalgia. Music is also used to much effect, as sequences involving popular music will be marked as a highlight, clearly in absentia from the novel. The overall effect is interesting: both mediums become more complementary rather than a substitute.

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, "Persepolis" definitely establishes a lasting experience. It knows how to balance its political influence and its personality that it never becomes overbearing and driven by a vendetta. The film's universal appeal is exceptional as even if it goes through specifics about Iran's historical political development, narrative is still driven by its protagonist. And with a character like Marjane, who has been easily compared to Juno multiple times, she's definitely worth cheering for.

I saw "Persepolis" after hearing a lot of buzz, along with a radio interview with the writer/director, Ms. Satrapi, so I had a good idea what to expect going in. And, bottom line, the film did not disappoint -- but it didn't "wow" me either.

As a personal history, a sort of animated diary, it did the only thing it could do: show us a deeply personal account of events that have shaped our world. So, in that capacity, I found it educational, and generally engaging. After all, we all probably know the basic facts of these events. But how many of us have had such a subjective, impressionistic account, one which, by definition, will be skewed to the storyteller's point-of-view, but provides a valuable perspective nonetheless? And while I agree with some of the other comments on this board (the film employs predictable cliché, jokes that fall flat, etc.), I can forgive those as minor faults in an otherwise noble, and at times quite entertaining, effort.

As a film, however, "Persepolis" falls short. One of the basic requirements of storytelling, at least in most cinematic genres, is that the filmmaker engage the audience emotionally, especially if he or she is trying to put across a moral or specific political message. And this is where Persepolis never really grabbed me. While anyone can easily empathize with the exploits of a darling, precocious little girl in such extraordinary circumstances, the "episodic" way her story is told prevented me from truly identifying with the Marjane character. We want to feel that the protagonist's goals are our goals. But if she doesn't really have a goal, other than to grow up, there's nothing for us to latch onto emotionally. So, by "episodic" I mean a series of vignettes that are disconnected from an over-arching goal, i.e., something the protagonist is trying to achieve that makes up the "meat" of the story.

I watched "Persepolis" with a feeling of detached amusement, and general hopefulness that Marjane the cartoon character would at least grow into adulthood (which I already knew the real Marjane had managed, so no suspense there). And I certainly appreciated the insider's perspective on this piece of history. But ultimately, to tell an entire life story, one that encompasses weighty political and cultural current events lessons, is a lot to ask an audience to connect with emotionally.

(This is why many successful biopics -- "Capote" and "Schindler's List" come to mind -- focus on a discrete period of the subject's life and manage to convey with great feeling the challenges that person faced. Which may explain why, despite the narrative shortcomings I describe, the largely Iranian-American audience at the screening I attended seemed to love "Persepolis", having their own personal and emotional touchstone by which to connect to the film.)

I left the theater feeling better informed on several levels. But not really touched.

Literally translated into "City of the Persians", Persepolis is a biographical tale following the trials and tribulations of an Iranian born woman named Marjane Satrapi. Set upon the backdrop of contemporary Iranian politics and history, Persepolis charts her young life as she learns about revolution, rock music and the harsh realities that the modern day world has to offer. It is a simplistically complex, fictionally factional story which is at times funny and in others sections touchingly poignant while always being brutally honest, as she brings her unique perspective from graphic novel onto the big screen.

Initially, most striking is the style of animation which is employed throughout the duration of Marjane's story. It is a unique fusion of seemingly simple child-like figures that vary from the normal to almost Monty Python-styled moments of parody and satire, to a delicate understated eye for subtle craftsmanship that interweaves throughout the scenes. Obviously, after the completion of the film, the animation can undeservedly take a back seat in ones mind when compared and contrasted with all the powerful emotions that course through this film, but the most wonderful thing and hand drawn story telling is it opens more options than its live action cousin. Persepolis is a mere ninety minutes in length, yet so much is said and told and not all of it through the use of dialogue. What Persepolis manages to achieve is being able to tell the tales of Marjane and her family and inform us of the historical and political backgrounds of Iran by seamlessly merging into these pictorial vignettes which end up conveying more than a verbal retelling could ever manage. Its animation is as warm and as infectious as the story that unravels, providing a wonderful counterpart to the meat of this piece of cinema.

I've read one or two negative reviews from ultra-liberals that state this is propaganda, claiming it to be a non too subtle means of asking the western world to intervene in Iranian politics, but that is biased unpoliticised nonsense. This is only propaganda so far as that this is one persons tale, from an incredibly strong woman, who has gone against the repressive conventions of her country and managed to document her life and her opinions on the world which she has experienced. Whether these are wholly factual I would suppose is up for debate, but the sincerity, honesty and warmth which is felt when watching Persepolis would lead most rational viewers to conclude that Marjane Satrapi has bared her soul in her work.

While Persepolis may not be a historical document it is certainly informative, and because we know the goings on that are providing the backdrop for this film were and are real it gives a greater sense of importance and meaning than any imagined text possibly could. Charting Marjane, we follow her through the Iranian revolution as the Shah and their royal lineage ruled with an iron fist over the populous before being over thrown and replaced by a government which made the iron fist look like a wet glove. It puts into context how much our protagonist as an individual how to weigh up in her mind, as she fights with her head and her heart, with the former telling her it is essential to leave, while her heart yearns to be with the loving family that lives in her homeland. Persepolis,however, not only shows the repressive, extremist views of the "modern" Iranian state but tackles in an equally unrestrained and delicate manner the uninformed stereotypically infused views and the often self-centrally deluded attitudes of western society, and how we can find ourselves equally repressive in various other ways.

Persepolis is a heart felt, heart wrenching, heart warming and well humoured film of a growing girl whose two most important figures in her life are her God and Karl Marx. It is a unique film which has no contemporaries in the originality stakes which is infinitely charming and should not be missed by any lover of animated films, foreign films or just film as a medium. True to itself and the author who experienced everything from unfaithful lovers to atrocities of war, Persepolis is an excellent film which pummels the pesky rodents of Ratatouille in a rat shaped mush because, to be frank, it is much more deserving than the mere nomination it received for best animation.

Persepolis (2007) was written and directed by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi. This animated film is based on the coming-of-age graphic novel by Ms. Satrapi. In the film, Marjane--a young Iranian woman--is played by Chiara Mastoianni. Catherine Deneuve plays Marjane's mother and Danielle Darrieux is her grandmother.

The film starts off in a strong, fascinating fashion. As a young girl, Marjane and her family are caught up in the struggle against the Shah. When the Shah is overthrown, the revolution falls into the hands of Islamic fundamentalists, and many of the revolutionaries, including members of Marjane's family, are imprisoned. Marjane appears to have become a young woman of strength and dignity--not easy at that time and in that place.

Unfortunately, the film winds down at the midpoint. Marjane's family are able to send her to Vienna, where she makes a series of bad decisions. Ultimately, she returns to Iran and the bad decisions continue. By the time the film ends, Marjane, as portrayed, hasn't maintained the strength and dignity that made her so admirable as a young adolescent.

It's hard to know how much of the story is autobiographical. If Ms. Satrapi is showing us her life, it's hard to argue that she should go back and live it differently. On the other hand, if Ms. Satrapi and Mr. Paronnaud are trying to use Ms. Satrapi's life to teach us something, or to send us a message, I don't think they've succeeded.

It's too bad things turned out this way. I had high hopes for the film, and for the little girl who went through her house shouting, "Down with the Shah!"

When "Persepolis" first made a big splash in the publishing world, I wondered why. So many good books go unpublished and unread…why so much buzz from a comic book about a girl living in Islamic Revolution Iran? Now that I've seen "Persepolis," I know the answer. Marjane, the lead character, occupies a parallel socioeconomic slot to literary agents, editors, journalists and opinion makers. She's a privileged, sheltered girl who invests in nothing and smokes, drinks, and parties her way through life while others are out making sacrifices for what they believe. From her perch of assumed superiority, Marjane looks down on everyone except her doting parents and grandmother, lights another cigarette, pours another drink, and sneers. In Marjane's view, Catholic nuns who shelter wayward youth are equally as evil as Iranian Revolutionary guards who torture dissidents to death. Et voila. Cultural Relativism, the worldview that all those who do nothing for anyone claim as their religion.

"Persepolis"'s animation is gorgeous, and worth seeing the movie for. It was inspired by German Expressionism. The animation is black and white and I'd sit through this tedious, annoying movie again just to view it. The DVD features fascinating extra features on the creation of animation.

Other than the animation, there really isn't anything to see here. Marjane is the absolute center of everything. She's the center of the universe, really. Marjane Satrapy is a spoiled, sheltered girl, the descendant of Iranian royalty. "Satrap" is Persian for "governor" and English for "a self-important official." Marjane is a passive witness to life under the late, deposed Shah, and then to the Iranian Revolution, and then to teen decadence in Europe. Along the way, she drinks, she smokes, and she sleeps with all the wrong men. Other people, those not in her family, are ridiculous, ugly, and lead pointless lives. In Marjane's view. But Marjane's view is all you get. When she meets a new guy, he is drawn as very attractive. As Marjane inevitably, and in a way meant to be tragic, discovers that her latest lover is no good, he is drawn as physically unattractive. Marjane is surrounded by people who risk all for what they believe, from her communist uncle to the Revolutionary Guard. Marjane believes in nothing, and risks nothing. She just looks on and sniffs.

A successful narrative requires a sympathetic main character and a coherent narrative. "Persepolis" has neither. Marjane's problem is not that she's such a passive, contemptuous person, but that she exercises no self awareness or critical capacity. She never takes a good hard look at herself or her country's circumstances. It is enough for her to depict others as ridiculously and blameworthy. The storyline is not coherent. The Shah, the Ayatollahs, a woman's dog in Vienna who misbehaves – all are passing shadows in Marjane's jaded vision. Nothing hangs together.

Americans, British people, and Catholic nuns are responsible for all the problems in the world. Never, not once, does "Persepolis" so much as hint at the theory that maybe, just maybe, the once great Persian Empire was brought down by Islam, imported by force by less advanced Arabs, that mandates gender apartheid and jihad, both of which have devastated Iran under the ayatollahs. There are certainly Persians in exile who will tell you just that. Any work about modern Iran that never once interrogates what Islam is doing to that nation so rich in resources and currently so poor in fact is dropping the intellectual ball.

One weird aspect of the film is its racism. None of the Iranian characters, including Marjane, look especially Iranian. Who does? The Revolutionary Guards. They are drawn with the prominent noses and heavy black hair common in the Middle East and Iran. Sympathetic characters have petite noses and less hair. Good grief.