Name ___________________________
English 12 - STUDY GUIDE
Questions – Reflection on Persepolis, the film
Clip activity
Ideas of Iran
The Iran that we see on screen is navigated through the eyes of Marjane. Think of key
scenes/moments that sum up her character for you. Compare these with your first thoughts on
the film's title or when you were told you’d be watching an Iranian film.
Key Scenes: Persepolis raises many issues and questions about identity, actions and
consequences. Once you've seen the film use the key scenes below as a starting point for
discussion and analysis.
Questions: Clip 1 Marjane discusses getting a divorce with her friend.
In this clip we see a depressed Marjane. She is very nervous about telling her family about her
divorce.
1. Is this something you can understand?
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. What do you think divorce means in this context?
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
When she tells her Grandmother she is met with some information about her Grandmother that
she did not know.
1. What is this information about her grandmother?
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Does this information surprise you? How do you think Marjane now feels?
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Production Process
Persepolis is an unusual project in many ways. Adapting a novel for the screen is commonplace
but adapting a graphic novel is less common. Marjane Satrapi, the author of the graphic novel
and director of the film, made a deliberate decision to use traditional animation techniques
giving the film Persepolis a very distinctive visual style.
The following clips look at specific aspects of the process:
Video clip of scenes from Persepolis, with commentary from the animators
Questions Clip 1
1. Marjane chose to use animation for the movie instead of real actors. Why did she do
this?
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Think about other animated movies you have seen. What are the differences between
these and Persepolis?
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. Do you agree with Marjane’s point that animation has a universal quality that live
action (real actors) does not?
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
4. Marjane mentions that some parts of the story would be difficult to pportray in live
action, such as the dream sequences (i.e., Marjane talking to God). How would this
type of scene be if it were with real actors , and not drawings? More or less effective?
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Video clip of the animation production process, focusing on character development
Questions Clip 2
1. In this clip we see the animator developing the characters' movements and emotions.
How important is sound to the way the drawings are made?
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. The animator talks about checking his progress, saying that he can only tell if it works
by filming the sequence. What does this tell you about the animation process?
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Video clip of Marjane working with the production team
Questions Clip 3
1. Persepolis is clearly a very personal project for Marjane, however we can see here that
the process of developing scenes is a team effort. Do you think that Marjane would be
working so closely with the director of a live action film? Why or why not?
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Most animated features are not made in this way, with individual drawings?. Do you
think that the skills required to produce the film Persepolis are lost through production
that relies primarily on computer-generated techniques?
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________