first persepolis review

John Richardson
English 1106
Dan Lawson
Wednesday February 18, 2009

The movie Persepolis is a film that took one of the world’s most renowned graphic novels, and turned it into a great film. The novel by Marijane Strapi outlines her life growing up in Iran, and follows her throughout a move, a war, and a tremendous change in character. The film starts of right in the beginning, right when Strapi was a care free little girl growing up in Iran. The film shows how she has a strong relationship with her family, but also shows she is very independent from a young age when she proclaims herself a prophet. The film does a nice job paralleling the book, although I feel it moves a little too fast. The film does not pay nearly enough attention to the beginning or they blow through Marijane’s relationship with her Uncle. The book demonstrates a strong relationship with her uncle, and how he feels she is the star of his life, and the movie just shows how he talks to her in prison and briefly at home. It is difficult to follow the whole entire book, in one film so I feel people who enjoyed the book will also enjoy the film. It follows the book in order almost exactly, and the characters look exactly the same, so there is no difference whatsoever. I feel the movie has a few flaws, but overall did a very good job making the graphic novel Persepolis turn into a real life story. I give these film two thumbs up because it is a great story, and it is exactly like the book.