Persepolis is
the poignant story of a young girl coming of age in Iran during
the Islamic Revolution. It is through the eyes of this precocious
nine year old, Marjane, that we see a people's hopes dashed
as fundamentalists take power - forcing the veil on women and
imprisoning thousands. Clever and fearless, she outsmarts the
“social guardians” and discovers punk, ABBA and
Iron Maiden. Yet when her uncle is executed and bombs fall around
Tehran, during the Iraq/Iran war, the daily fear that permeates
life in Tehran is palpable. As she gets older, her parents worry
for her safety and decide to send her to school in Vienna when
she turns fourteen. Vulnerable and alone in a strange land,
Marjane endures the typical ordeals of a teenager. She also
has to combat being equated with the religious fundamentalism
she is trying to escape. Over time she finds acceptance and
even love but remains terribly homesick. Marjane decides to
return to Iran to be close to her family. After a difficult
period of adaptation, she enters art school and gets married,
all the while continuing to speak against the hypocrisy she
witnesses. At age 24 she realizes that although she loves her
country she cannot live there anymore and she decided to leave
for France.
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| PHOTO SONY PICTURES CLASSICS |
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