Street SmART film: Persepolis

Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud, based on Satrapi’s extraordinary, autobiographical graphic novel, is a masterpiece of a creative way to discuss and fight for women’s safety and freedoms, in the streets or anywhere.

A true original, coming of age story of a… true original, outspoken Iranian girl growing up full of hope and ideals in Tehran during the Iranian revolution of 1979 only to witness the promise of progress perverting into a reality of regression: a new era of oppressive tyranny under the Islamic fundamentalists now ruling her beloved home country.

Is an escape to Europe a solution to her problems?

Ever timely, and voiced by real life daughter, Chiara Mastroianni (Marjane) and mother, Catherine Deneuve (Mother) duo, Persepolis is unusually beautiful to look at, intelligent, witty, joyful, bittersweet, melancholic, tragic, comic… brains and full of heart all at once.

Reviews:

“Shot in black-and-white to mirror Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novels of her life growing up in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution, Persepolis – in French with English subtitles – is like nothing you’ve ever seen in animation. It’s a mind-blower.” Peter Travers, The Rolling Stone

“ …“Persepolis,” austere as it may look, is full of warmth and surprise, alive with humor and a fierce independence of spirit. Its flat, stylized depiction of the world — the streets and buildings of Tehran and Vienna in particular — turns geography into poetry. ” A.O. Scott, The New York Times

“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.” Helen O’Hara, Empire