Don't listen to the negative reviews

The acting in this movie is really good.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Marjane Satrapi's animated biopic deliver a powerful message to the world about the struggles of Iranian people, which can be extended to any people from what the "western civilization" pompously designate as "third world" country... and it does so with a movie that hit a more universal chord than any Farhadi's masterpiece simply by using the animation as a medium.Yes, it doesn't have the whole tech-zaz-wow-schaboom of Dreamworks or Pixar, or the delicacy and poetic imagery of Miyazaki (or does it?), yes, it's all in Black and White and drawings that can't fool you with their simplicity... but behind that sober and gloomy façade, you go through dynamite of emotions, of humors and tears, and you end up realizing deep in your head "hey, these Iranian people aren't so different from us, after all". Well maybe Donald and Bibi should watch this film before deciding some day to nuke Persepolis out of the map.As a matter of fact, the film doesn't even imply that the Revolution brought anything good to Iran giving how hellish and liberticidal the post-Revolution Iran turned out to be... but the film isn't about a regime. it's about the people who lived under the tyrannical end of the stick and had threats of whipping, jailing, hanging or raping-before-hanging pending over their head if they had one 'obscene' glimpse too many, one breath of alcohol, too much hair unveiled or too much lipstick. And if you count the the arrests, the repressions and the infamous war with Irak and the rest, there's no family that didn't probably paid a dowry to that revolution in the name of some fanatic reading of religion... there's no right to point an accusing finger of these population... especially since the movie reminds of the role the British played in the throning of the first Shah and the way the "West" provided weapons to both Iran and Iraq during the war, some details that movies like "Not Without My Daughter" forgot to cover. So I guess the merit of this adaptation of Marjane Satrapi's graphic comic-book, is to expose to the world the torments a whole population went through, by focusing on little Marjane, a young girl who like any other girl in the world loved to wear sneakers, imitate her idols, listen to music and change the world, a girl who was all smile and joy, craving from models to admire, to be able to say that she's related to a hero of the revolution when it was announcing a new era. There's something in the initial scenes that reminded me of "The Pianist" when you looked at crucial events from the perspective of a family. Yes, they're obviously from an upper class, westernized and open-minded, even the scene-stealing grandmother is feisty and has a few juicy lines that reveal that she cares more about the perfume of her brassiere than any sanctimonious, but the point is that there are aspects of the western culture that are indeed universally appealing in the sense that people would rather have fun and enjoy an access to knowledge, art and music than just drown in the darkest abysses of religious fanaticism... except if they come from average classes or aren't instructed enough to know what they miss. Like the majority actually.And just when you think little Marjie would fit like a fish in the water in Austria, where she's sent at the age of 14, the film goes for a huger cultural clash, so mind-boggling it might even make a Westerner consider what kind of values he inherited from his own history. While Iranians fought for freedom and democracy and had all these aspects of civilization being smuggled like drugs ... blasé Austrian youth take these aspects as cultural items that hardly hide the superficiality of a world that's not even worth fighting for, anarchists group spend their day smoking joints and basically, everyone acts as a spoiled child of democracy.The gap is too huge for Marjie who, after a few romantic failures, decide to go back to Iran, she's an adult then and misses her family. but the situation has worsened to surrealistic extents and... she even came close to a suicide. All this looks rather gloomy and poignant, but the film is full of inspirational energy, of moments of humor from Tex Avery-like slapstick to ingenuous storytelling, and when you look at Marjane Satrapi in real-life, you see the same woman who probably inherited her grandmother's spirit, tobacco addiction... and desire of freedom.I don't know what feminism means but if anyone tells me "women shouldn't do or be allowed to do this" then count me in. The film is full of moments where Marjie or her mother puts one of these bearded moral guardians in their place, where they confront the laws to their contradictions and their double standards, a few mini-triumphs that can't hide the fact that the best option is to get the hell out and be free. Indeed, "Persepolis" is an exhilaration of freedom, the real one, that you can taste after having lived under restrictions, no one born free can understand.And that's why the world needs foreign cinema, Hollywood can't grasp some things. It can win Oscars though with "Ratatouille" getting it for Best Animated Feature, but the most important thing is that you have a story that can speak to each of us. Marjie doesn't have any power or any fighting skills, but the way she gets through her predicaments is powerful enough to count her as a modern-day heroine and an inspiration to the world (especially in the "Eye of Tiger" scene), as she said: "The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same..." What can you say after that?

Personally, I enjoyed this movie and would give it an eight based on a ten scale. I enjoyed this movie due to the fact that it shows injustices that quite often are overlooked, such as in Iran. The movie starts with Marjane trying to board a plane to Iran, but is unable to. She sits down and smokes a cigarette and thinks back to her childhood at the age of nine, and then it progresses almost to the present day. This movie speaks of the horrid laws put into place because of the Irani government when regimes changed. I personally would recommend this movie to a friend, as it opens your eyes to what life was, and has progressed to in Iran. Which, for me, is halfway around the world, and nowhere similar to the United States.

Well, it took me long enough to finally get around to watching this. Ever since its release, it's been one of those films I said I'd watch one day. I don't exactly know why I took this long, but it surpassed my expectations. It's completely engrossing, the animation really does wonders for this coming-of-age story, sort of hard to see it being done any other way. The editing work here is pretty amazing, always finding a fresh and seamless approach to balancing its many different cuts in time. I'm not necessarily sure that I think it's better than Ratatouille, another truly amazing animated film, but it definitely deserved a Screenplay nomination at the least.

My opinion on Persepolis is negative as I was not very interested in the film when I was watching it, to be honest I thought the film was boring as I don't like cartoon films and it was unreal as when she had the growing spurt I thought it was just weird. I couldn't follow the film and I didn't get it. But overall I wouldn't watch this film again because it's not my type as I like action films and adventure films .But I recommend this film to people that like mysterious films and films in black and white as this film would be for them REAPEAT 12. My opinion on Persepolis is negative as I was not very interested in the film when I was watching it, to be honest I thought the film was boring as I don't like cartoon films and it was unreal as when she had the growing spurt I thought it was just weird. I couldn't follow the film and I didn't get it. But overall I wouldn't watch this film again because it's not my type as I like action films and adventure films .But I recommend this film to people that like mysterious films and films in black and white as this film would be for them