Persepolis - film review
An engaging journey through events in pre- and post-revolutionary Iran, seen through the eyes of Marji, a young girl growing up in a westernised Teheran family under both the Shah and Khomeini's regime.
Marji's development from lively infant to rebellious teenager leads to clashes with the religious authorities, prompting her family to send her into exile in Vienna, rather than risk imprisonment, rape and execution. Life in Vienna, though less risky proves just as difficult and ultimately unfulfilling, and in time Marji rejoins her family in Iran where she finds herself a stranger in her homeland. She attends university, falls in love, gets married, falls out of love, and finally returns to exile in Paris.
Revolving around Marji is a cast of characters whose individual lives are equally disrupted by the world-changing events going on around them - the fall of the Shah, the Iranian revolution, Khomeini's return, and the Iran-Iraq war. Relatives return from exile, are imprisoned, tortured, executed. Neighbours are killed in Iraqi missile attacks. Marji's family and friends conduct a westernised social life behind closed doors when they can, consisting of parties, pop music, and home-brewed alcohol, always under threat of discovery and punishment.
Throughout it all, one constant figure is Marji's beloved grandmother, who dispenses wisdom, comfort, reassurance, and who also has an interesting line in beauty tips.
Persepolis exposes some of the characteristics of individual human stories behind the headlines that have documented life in Iran over the past 30 years. Complex, humorous and poignant, you'll laugh and cry in equal measure.
Essential viewing.