After seeing this film, you will feel as if you have really lived through Marjane Satrapi's life. Persepolis is based on her autobiography of the same title, a French graphic novel. The film is an intimate look at every stage of Marjane's development and her family's struggle through the war between Iran and Iraq. There are some very powerful statements made about standing up for yourself, the strength of family and finding your place in the world.

First of all, the story is mostly based in Iran, and the film is in French with subtitles. Luckily, the film watches as if you're reading a comic book so reading subtitles (for those who don't necessarily enjoy reading subtitles) feels natural. One drawback is that although the movie is only an hour and a half long, it feels like you're reading a graphic novel for an hour and a half with no break, so on top of the intense subject matter the movie feels a lot longer than it really is.

Marjane Satrapi herself did not necessarily do anything completely extraordinary, but she was very observant of her family's struggles through wartimes and she makes a lot of really interesting observations about her world as she viewed it as a child. The film begins with her awakening to the world of peaceful protest. She learns that the things her teachers tell her are not necessarily true, and from that moment on she makes it her personal goal to disagree with everything her teacher tell her. Her uncle takes a particular shine to her new personality, and when he becomes a political prisoner after the fall of the Shah, she becomes more rebellious, more precocious and more outspoken in a time that was extremely oppressive and dangerous for women her age.

When things become too dangerous in Iran, Marjane's family sends her to Vienna where she is living in a convent. For someone who loves Iron Maiden and smoking cigarettes, the convent is the last place she fits in. She's kicked out for bad behavior and lives on various couches for a few months before moving in with her boyfriend. When they break up, she is homeless for weeks and gets very sick after being out in the cold and damp. She decides to return to Iran finally, and she goes to college. Unfortunately, the environment in Iran is still extremely dangerous and she and her family face struggle after struggle to enjoy some sense of freedom and normalcy.

I loved that Marjane's story does not have a big climactic obvious moral. She is simply telling her story, and the story of her family. She learns a lot of lessons, but she learns them in an entirely human way, not in a more formulaic big movie ending kind of way. I loved getting to know this person's life, I loved seeing it portrayed in such an original way, and I really feel like Marjane's story has a lot to teach people about the struggles of a young girl trying to find her niche. Pretty powerful stuff for a comic book.