After returning to school the other week, coursework for the most part complete and the minor outstanding homework left forgotten, it came to my attention that our school Film Club had restarted once again. As a regular member, I have already been exposed to the world of foreign and enlightening cinema which Film Club provides, but we had not watched a film from the nation of Iran. This was, however, to change.

A quick decision at the beginning of the club lead us to pop Persepolis into our humble DVD player. Blasting onto our screen beamed the face of Marjane (or Marji, as she is known in the film), a 10 year old girl living in Iran during the time of the Iranian Revolution of 1979. It shows of the build-up and how public anger starts to gain momentum, including the large industrial action undertaken in 1978 and finally with the expulsion of the Shah in early 1979. The film is not, however, a complete history lesson, as it shows us what it is like to live then from the viewpoint of a real person, who is not a freedom fighter or an activist, but someone who just wants to get on with their everyday life.

Marji is someone who we follow for the duration of the film, seeing many aspects of her life – her emotional ups and downs, her varying places of residence, and her relationships – to name but a few. Her move to Austria as a result of the instability brought on by the Revolution and the repression of civil liberties is an interesting one, as it shows the prejudice by others that has come against Iranians who believe their country is falling apart and cannot be taken seriously. She soon falls into despair, however, and moves back to Iran once again, hoping that the time after the War has lead to regained stability.

Her return to Iran shows how the Revolution has impacted everyday people, such as though alcohol bans and music filtration. This creates a black market which is shown as flourishing, and the film makes it stunningly amusing at the same time. That is one of the greatest qualities of this great film: its ability to make serious situations bearable either through humour and/or excellent representation through animation. When Marji has bought a Michael Jackson tape, two Muslim women grab her and point out her “wrongdoings”. This is hilarious, as you can only see the bodies of them during this, so they look like snakes. This is one of the many scenes which is wickedly funny.

Persepolis might not be to everyone's taste – you'll probably need to know the basics about the Iranian Revolution and have an open ear for new terms, but it's well worth it. The film has even been dubbed into English and it is natively in French.

This film is very difficult to sum up in a way.

The animation is fantastic and fluid, the dubbed voice acting is so well done it can't be noticed, the story is insightful and fantastically funny at times but, above all, the way the film makes you think about the way you look on society – its flaws, its successes and the underlying feeling of responsibility, is outstanding.

5 stars

By Kevin Emsley, Wootton Bassett School