SansPoint

The Visual Memoir: a Late Review of Persepolis (2007)

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It should be worth noting that, shamefully, I have not read the original Persepolis graphic novels. They’ve been on my reading list for ages upon ages, and I’ve certainly paged through them while browsing through Barnes & Noble or Borders killing time without actually intending to buy anything.[1] However, when I heard about Persepolis, the film, I was immediately interested… especially once I saw the trailer, and the impressive animation style.

Long review made short: See it.

Long review kept long: Persepolis is a positively beautiful, alternately hilarious and haunting film that immediately grabs you and will not let you go for a good 90 minutes. Marjane’s memories and retelling of her youth during the fall of the Shah, and rise of the Islamic Republic in Iran, her time in Vienna, her return to Tehran and time in University is amazing, and the stark black and white animation against lush, charcoal style backgrounds looks amazing. Equally amazing is Marjane’s ability to bring make her life connect with viewers in a world that has never lived through such violence and oppression. There is a connection of universality that simply drives me wild.

The sound of the film is excellent as well: a beautiful score, and the voice acting is superb.[2] Music plays a major role in Marjane’s life, and you’ll be highly amused by a certain scene after she returns to Tehran. It involves the song “Eye of the Tiger.”

The story does lag a tiny bit while Marjane is in Vienna, but it’s a minor issue. Once she starts moving from place to place, it picks right back up. This sort of thing is likely to happen in any memoir, and you’ll be able to work with it. My only real complaint is that I have no clue if there is going to be a film of Persepolis 2, but I can only hope there is.[3]


  1. Please tell me I’m not the only person who uses these places as a fancy library you can’t actually check stuff out of. I’m a poor college student, if it helps. ↩
  2. The voice acting is also in French. The film is subtitled. Do not be afraid of the subtitles. Trust me, dubbing would change the impact. ↩
  3. As an aside, after seeing the movie, I picked up Dave Eggers’s memoir, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius at St. Marks Books. I guess I was in a memoir mood. ↩