| I'm in love with Marjane Satrapi. There. I said it. My wife will likely take offense to this and my reputation will be dragged through the mud, but still, it's true. I fell in love with her over the course of the three days it took me to read The Complete Persepolis. It's a graphic novel in which the author (Satrapi) tells the story of her childhood and transition to adulthood while growing up in Iran and Europe.
Along the way, Satrapi tells the story of how her family life changed as the government transitioned from the rule of the Shah to the rule of Muslim clerics and how she was sent away to Europe to attend school in order to escape the oppressive changes that were taking place.
Now that story in and of itself is bound to be an interesting one, however here's what grabbed me. This is not a story of the "poor old me, I grew up under oppressive rule", much like most Americans would probably assume it to be. Instead, it's the story of an intensely intelligent woman who is aggressively proud of where she comes from, her family and her country. At the same time, she is heartbroken at the backward slide of women's rights and basic freedoms under the current government.
 In other words, she loves her country but hates how it's being run. Unsurprisingly, it was easy for me to find common ground there.
Anyway, Satrapi gives a pretty no holds barred look at her life, from her small victories (smuggling Iron Maiden cassettes past the prying eyes of the religious police) to her moral failings (playing "political prisoner" games as a youngster). Over the course of the book, chapters play out in simply drawn strips that never fail to convey emotion and feeling but aren't overly detailed to take away from the overall message Satrapi is trying to send.
 Having missed the movie adaptation of Persepolis in theaters, my concern when receiving the DVD was that this would not translate as well to the screen. There was something amazingly intimate about the graphic novel that made each page seem like you were reading a diary, warts and all.
Now that I've seen it, I have to say they almost pulled it off. Visually, it's a stunning achievement. Presented in stark black and white (with few exceptions) the panels of the graphic novel come to life on the screen. The story moves fluidly and the animation is superb.
The only thing missing for me is that the sounds in my head didn't translate as well to the screen. But I'm nitpicking here.
Persepolis is incredibly good. If you haven't seen it, you absolutely should.
Presentation
The movie looks amazing. Again, this is a black and white film and the images are rich and wonderful. The 5.1 surround sound is effective also. I have no complaints about this at all.
 Extras
First up, you get both the original French version of the film with subtitles as well as the English language version with Sean Penn and Catherine Deneuve voicing characters.
Next up there are two featurettes, The Hidden Side of Persepolis which is about the making of the French version and Behind the Scenes of Persepolis which is about the recording of the English language version. They're about what you would expect but they're not bad to watch once.
The 2007 Cannes Film Festival Press Conference is worth your time. Satrapi is fun, lively and candid. The same holds true with her commentary on the Animated Scene Comparisons.
Finally, you have commentary by Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud and Chaira Mastroianni on selected scenes from the film. These are fun and informative also.
 The Bottom Line
Persepolis really is a must see. It will give you a different perspective on Iran, one not tainted by the view from American news camera lenses while at the same time, it likely won't change your perception of the current regime. It takes something most Americans think of in black and white terms and paints it in shades of grey and in my opinion that is never a bad thing.
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