There’s something about – as a male – writing about a female artist, where the words “falling in love” are too often uttered without understanding the utter disrespect that such outcries represent. Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis tells the autobiographical tale of her life, as she grew up in Iran, and then had to deal with a war-torn country that she both couldn’t live with or without.

As a child she is susceptible to propaganda, and finds herself drawn at the whims of the latest batch of gossip. She really wants to be a religious figure, but her mother (Catherine Deneuve) and father (Simon Abkarian) look after her, while her grandmother (Danielle Darrieux) is a wonderful influence, who tells her great, important truths. The family is liberated, and even though there are nightly patrols, there is also disco parties, and drinking, and talk about promiscuous sex.

But the older Marji (voiced by Chiara Mastroianni) remains rebellious (though abandons a steady diet of Bruce Lee-isms), and is sent off to Vienna when Tehran grows too dangerous. There she finally discovers boys, but though she falls in with the nihilist set, she finds them way too superficial, and never falls in love with their philosophers or poets.

She returns home, and shocks some with her love affairs, most just tunes out. She no longer belongs, until she meets her husband, but that only lasts so long. But it’s her grandmother who always gives her the best advice, and she has the love of a strong family.

Persepolis is about family, and about growing up. It takes a strong writer to commit to autobiography whilst still telling a story that doesn’t become “me, me, me!” and Satrapi does it brilliantly. You grow to admire how she crafts the story, to feel for her on a level that is deeply personal. You fall for her, her brashness, but mostly her openness, even if the story is partly or all fictionalized (I have no evidence how much of it is true or not.

Ultimately, as an American, it’s easy to see certain stories about growing up, and the difficulties faced as trite, mostly because they are trite, and the lessons learned meretricious. But with Satrapi, there is such a fascinating story about identity, identity formed and mangled by cultural identity, which makes her the ultimate outsider. That’s probably why she’s such a talented artist.

Sony Pictures Classics presents the film in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) and in 5.1 surround in both French (with optional English subtitles) and English. The dub track features Gena Rowlands and Iggy Pop, if that’s your thing. Extras include “The Hidden Side of Persepolis” (30 min.), which shows how the whole thing was hand drawn, while “Behind the Scenes of Persepolis” (9 min.) offers footage from the American dubbing,w ith Iggy Pop (shirtless) and Gena Rowlands commenting on the action. “2007 Cannes Commentary” (30 min.) features a panel with the actors, Satrapi and co-writer/director Vincent Paronnaud and producer Kathleen Kennedy, and is mostly dominated by Marji. Then there’s select scene commentary with Satrapi, Paronnaud and Mastroianni offering seven minutes of comments. Paltry, but there’s more with the animated storyboards (11 min.), which are narrated by Marjane solo. The disc is round out by a ton of trailers for other Sony films.