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Persepolis

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Persepolis (2007)

96%
97%
88%
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96 %
Reviews Counted: 118 Fresh: 113  Rotten:5 Average Rating: 8.2/10
 
Consensus: Persepolis is an emotionally powerful, dramatically enthralling autobiographical gem. The film's simple black-and-white images are effective and bold, helping to place the focus on the poignant and sometimes heartbreaking coming of age story. Marjane Satrapi's bestselling graphic novel springs to life and flourishes on film, making Persepolis not only one of the year's best animated films, but one of the year's best films overall.
 

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The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins

Theatrical Release: Dec 25, 2007 Limited

Box Office: $4,293,233

Synopsis: NEW YORK PREMIERE AT NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL 2007 (Limited) PERSEPOLIS presents a deeply personal coming-of-age tale about finding one's place in the world. Based on her bestselling graphic novel, Marjane Satrapi teamed up with underground comic book artist Vincent Paronnaud to... NEW YORK PREMIERE AT NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL 2007 (Limited) PERSEPOLIS presents a deeply personal coming-of-age tale about finding one's place in the world. Based on her bestselling graphic novel, Marjane Satrapi teamed up with underground comic book artist Vincent Paronnaud to co-direct this animated big screen adaptation. The result is an electrifying, heartfelt, and original portrait of a spunky girl who surmounts countless obstacles to grow into a wise young adult. Marjane (voiced by Chiara Mastroianni) is an innocent nine-year-old living in Iran, surrounded by a loving but incredibly protective mother (Catherine Deneuve) and father (Simon Abkarian). She finds comfort in the carefree spirit of her loving grandmother (Danielle Darrieux), as well as music by artists as diverse as ABBA and Iron Maiden. When Marjane's uncle is killed in the Iran/Iraq war, her parents send her to school in Austria, where she can study in safety. The only trouble is that her Middle Eastern appearance frightens people, giving her a harsh lesson in racial prejudice. Somehow, Marjane's fiery spirit doesn't succumb to any of the negativity. Eventually, she returns home to Iran to be closer with her family. But even though she settles into married life, the tyrannical pressures of Iranian society force her to abandon her country once again, sending her to France on another journey. Satrapi and Paronnaud retain the stark, spare animated style of the graphic novels that inspired the film. This is a wise decision: the less specific they get in their visual presentation, the more universal their story becomes. PERSEPOLIS gives viewers several movies in one. It is equal parts coming-of-age story, history lesson, and an animated adventure tale. [More]

Genre: Animation, Animated, True Story, Based On A Novel, Animation/General, Family Life, France, Anime/Japanimation, Japanimation (Anime)

Starring: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Simon Abkarian, Gabrielle Lopes

Director: Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud
Screenwriter: Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud
Producer: Marc-Antoine Robert, Xavier Rigault
Composer: Olivier Bernet

DVD Info

Release:

Jun 24, 2008

[DVD Details]

Blu-ray Features:

  • Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - French, English
  • Subtitles - English (SDH), Spanish - Optional

Additional Release Material:

  • Animated Scene Comparisons
  • Audio Commentary - 1. Marjane Satrapi, Creator
  • 2. Vincent Paronnaud
  • 3. Chiara Mastoianni
  • Behind the Scenes of Persepolis: The Recording of the English version
  • Featurettes - The Hidden Side of Persepolis: The Making of the French Version
  • Interview - 2007 Cannes Film Festival Press Conference Q & A with Cast and Crew

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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Ratings Image
N/A

With deceptively simple, mostly black and white animation, the filmmakers take us through a life story that is anything but simple

Full Review | comment Comment
08/14/08
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile
Ratings Image
N/A

A unique insight into life in Iran from the point of view of a young girl, this observant cinematic impression sears itself into our consciousness by its simplicity, both in storytelling and graphic representation; a feast of imagery

Full Review | comment Comment
08/14/08
Louise Keller
Urban Cinefile
Ratings Image
4/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Jonathan Kiefer
Sacramento News & Review
Ratings Image
3.5/4

So satisfying because it works on a few complimentary levels: as a coming-of-age story tracking innocence to experience, as an accounting of revolutionary and feminist struggles, and as an artful visual experience in cartoon form. [Blu-Ray]

Full Review | comment Comment
06/23/08
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews
Ratings Image
B

Gives the viewer a glimpse into a foreign world, but its strongest suit is not depicting what is foreign, but what is common to all of humanity.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/23/08
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope
Ratings Image
N/A

As a reminder that Iran is a complex society with a long tradition of cosmopolitan interchange with the West, Persepolis could hardly be more welcome. As a narrative, however, the film sometimes loses its way.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/10/08
Thomas Peyser
Style Weekly (Richmond, VA)
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5/5

[I]t's that balance of quotidian personal struggles taking place alongside the larger scope of political upheaval and repression that makes Persepolis such a riveting film.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/01/08
Alonso Duralde
MSNBC
Ratings Image
4.5/5

A moving, funny, personal yet universal tale of one woman's life growing up amid political turbulence, animated with concise artistry.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/25/08
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
4/5

Persepolis makes this most difficult of subjects at once watchable, accesible, and ultimately unforgettable.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/25/08
Chris Tilly
IGN Movies UK
Ratings Image
4/5

The predominantly black-and-white animation is used to amusing effect as Satrapi gently pokes fun at her youthful exuberance and innocence, making serious political points easy to swallow. The lack of sense of direction is the film's only let-down.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/25/08
Anna Smith
BBC
Ratings Image
4/6

A delightful, curious film that indulges in both the personal and the political and provides a potted history of modern Iran through one woman’s experience.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/25/08
Dave Calhoun
Time Out
Ratings Image
4/5

The monochrome animation is stark and beautiful, and Marjane’s an appealing narrator. Often hilarious, sometimes tragic, this may be low-tech, but it’s high-class.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/25/08
Helen OHara
Empire Magazine
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4.5/5

Persepolis is very different and bold, beautiful and moving.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/29/08
Karina Montgomery
Cinerina
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2.5/4

The political component is understated, but then it suddenly slips in and snaps at you.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/27/08
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly
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N/A

A lot of beautiful animated sequences that could only come to life in movement . . . We've had this incredible wave of films giving us Iran from an insider's point of view--maybe now it's time for the exile's.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/01/08
Brian Gibson
Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)
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N/A

An art-house cartoon about war and revolution as seen through the eyes of a potential Blossom is more than just unique -- it's rich, eye-catching, educational, and, yes, crowd-pleasing.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/28/08
Tricia Olszewski
Let's Not Listen
Ratings Image
7/10

Despite the grimness of its subject matter, Persepolis is a relentlessly charming, persistently amusing tale about patriotism, familial love and the need to carry on, even in the face of madness and absurdity.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/28/08
Brandon Fibbs
Colorado Springs Gazette
Ratings Image
5/5

Serve para ilustrar como uma técnica historicamente associada a filmes infantis vem criando obras que representam o que de melhor o Cinema mundial tem oferecido ao público mais maduro.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/26/08
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
Ratings Image
3.5/4

at times uproariously funny, and it has moments of beautifully wild abandon

Full Review | comment Comment
02/26/08
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk
Ratings Image
N/A

what might in other hands have been ethnographic agitprop is instead an engaging, character-based tragicomedy, grounded in what might be called the politics of real people.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/21/08
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film
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Around the Network

• Persepolis at Rotten Tomatoes
• Persepolis at IGN
 
 
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