Trivia / Persepolis

• Banned in China: The film was initially banned in Lebanon. Surprising, considering how Lebanon is considerably more progressive than many other Middle Eastern countries. Academic protest eventually overturned this ban, however.
• Celebrity Voice Actor:
  • The voice cast of the French version includes Catherine Deneuve, Deneuve's daughter Chiara Mastroianni, Danielle Darrieux and Simon Abkarian.
  • Iggy Pop voices Uncle Anoosh in the English dub of the film.
• Money, Dear Boy: Having never directed a film before, Marjane Satrapi agreed to do the animated version under the assumption that she'd only be supervising and that everyone else would do the heavy lifting while she banked on royalties. However, she learned early on that this was not the case and fully embraced the creative process, eventually having a modestly successful live-action filmmaking career.
• Multiple Languages, Same Voice Actor: Chiara Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve voices their respective characters (Marjane and her mother) in both French and English.
• Real-Life Relative: In both the French original and the English dub, Marjane and her mother are voiced by Chiara Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve respectively, and they're in fact daughter and mother.
• Referenced by...:
  • In Dear Evan Hansen, Connor's favorite books include Persepolis.
  • In Dumbing of Age, when discussing their favorite movies in Women's Studies class, Dorothy picks Persepolis as hers.
• Self-Adaptation: Marjane Sartrapi, the writer and artist of the original graphic novels, also co-directed and co-wrote the movie adaptation.
• What Could Have Been:
  • They actually wanted to include Marjane's suicide attempt in the movie. A cut scene from the DVD actually shows the sketches of her hallucinations after she overdoses on medication that her husband drew, since she couldn't find it in herself to draw them herself. She also explains why it didn't fit into the movie.
  • The wedding sequence in the movie was cut down in a brief montage of the event.

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