PERSEPOLIS (2007)
Writers/Directors Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud
Reviewed by Cardinal Cox

Persepolis DVD available from Amazon.co.uk

Persepolis [Blu-ray] DVD available from Amazon.co.uk

Write Dope on Pnuk part 59

Adapted from the autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, the animated film follows the life of Marjane as she grows up through the optimism of the revolution that overthrew the Shah and the subsequent creation of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Along the way we get a potted history of how the west interfered in Iranian internal affairs through the Twentieth Century, in an effort to gain control of the oil, as well as how Marjane's family had strove for something better. These relatives included a grandfather who was both a prince and a Communist and an uncle who spent many years as a political prisoner, both before the revolution and after.

Marjane's attempts at her own personal rebellion included the words "Punk's not Dead" across the back of her jacket and her enforced schooling in Austria.

While the film portrays the horrors of the Islamic Republic - petty bigotries dressed up as religious dogma - and the war with Iraq, it also offers a hope for the future because it reminds us that Iran is a nation with a long history of culture, if only it can become truly free.

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