£4/3
Persepolis is a heartfelt and original coming of age story about a spunky nine year old girl growing up in Iran. The film is based on the first book of the graphic novels by Marjane Satrapi (who co-directs with underground comic book artist Vincent Paronnaud). The girl Marjane (voice of Chiara Mastroianni) has a loving but very protective family(the parents voiced by Catherine Deneuve and Simon Abkarian). However, she finds freedom in the carefree spirit of her loving grandmother (Danielle Darrieux) and loves western 80s pop. When Marjane's uncle is killed in the Iran/Iraq war, her parents send her to safety in Austria. At school there she finds her Middle Eastern appearance frightens people, giving her a harsh lesson in racial prejudice. The film follows her return to Iran as an adult where she settles into married life until fleeing again to France due to the political instability in the country. The graphic visuals stick close to the novel and work a treat...this is the one not to miss this summer.