"Your ticket and passport, please." "Madame, I need to see your ticket and passport." "Marji!" "Stop running!" "Look!" "There's Nioucha!" " Marji, you're so grown-up!" " Did you bring me a present?" "What was Paris like?" "Did you see Bruce Lee?" "What was the Eiffel Tower like?" " Welcome to Tehran." " We missed you so much." " Let me take your bags." " No." "I'll do it." "Hurry up, don't keep them waiting." "I remember." "Back then, I led a peaceful, uneventful life." "The life of a little girl." "I loved chips with ketchup, Bruce Lee was my hero," "I wore Adidas trainers and I had two big obsessions, being able to shave my legs and becoming the last prophet in the galaxy." "If they're sagging, put a pencil under them." "If it falls, you have great breasts, if not, you're in trouble." "If you shook that girl, you'd have enough pencils to fill a box." "Hey, calm down." "They let me see him last week." "If you could see the state he was in..." "They keep telling me they'll release him, but it's been four years." "Don't worry." "This regime hasn't got long left." "It's just a matter of time." "Mummy!" "Marji kicked me in the head!" "The revenge of the dragon is a bitter dish best served cold." "If the dragon doesn't stop right now, he'll taste his own..." "I, Marjane, future prophet, have decided that:" "Firstly, everyone must be well-behaved." "Secondly, everyone must be true to their word." "Thirdly, everyone must do a good deed." "Fourthly, the poor will get to eat a roast chicken every day." "Fifthly, grandmothers won't suffer any more." "Well, Marji, if that's how it will be, I will be your first disciple." "Really?" "Brilliant." "So, how will you make sure that grandmothers won't suffer?" "Well, it's easy." "It won't be allowed." "Of course, I should have thought of that." "What's going on?" " Down with the Shah!" " Down with the Shah!" "I told you!" "Didn't I tell you?" "I told you!" "We're witnessing a historic moment!" "He'll finally pay for what he's done to us." "Yes, my dear." "Your poor father will finally be avenged." "The Shah can pack his bags and join his friends in Washington." "Well, I think..." "I like the Shah." "He was chosen by God." "Yes!" "He was!" "God himself told me." "God and the teacher, too." "First of all, the Shah wasn't chosen by God." "Yes, he was!" "The teacher..." "That's what they tell us." "I'll tell you what really happened." "The truth is that, 50 years ago, the Shah's father, who was an officer, wanted to overthrow the Qajar emperor to found a republic." "I will be Iran's Atatürk." "I will modernise this country and create a republic!" "But the English got wind of his plans." "And one day..." "Hello." "Why do you want to found a republic when you could be emperor?" " Me?" "Emperor?" " Of course." "It's better than president." "You will hold all the power." "A country like yours needs a strong man like you as its leader." "That's a good point." "And you know that the clergy is against the republic." "Between you and me, with good reason." "What do I have to do?" "Nothing." "You give us the oil and we'll take care of the rest." "Now, I am king." "Everything that is yours belongs to me." "Oh, so he was an idiot." "Yes and no." "He was a dictator but he modernised Iran." "In a way, you could say he loved his country." "Not like his son, who succeeded him." "I am king now!" "I am the Light of the Aryans." "I will make this nation the most modern country ever." "We will rediscover our nation's splendour." "Yes." "The Shah's father was very brutal." "He even put your grandfather in prison." " But his son was 10 times worse." " What?" "Grandpa was in prison?" "Yes." "He was part of the Royal Family." "He was a Qajar prince." "The Shah's father took everything he had." "Yes, but he was imprisoned mainly because he was a Communist." "My grandpa was a Qajar prince and a Communist." "Oh, thank God." "You're still alive." "I was worried sick." " They were shooting into the crowd." " It was so dangerous." "We tried to get away, but we got stopped by soldiers." " The bastards confiscated all my film." " We were ages at the police station." "Marji was going crazy." "All afternoon, she went on about the proletariat and the class struggle, and that bearded Che Guevero." "The one who got shot next to us was just a kid." "What is this country?" " Right now, this country's a shit hole." " Down with the Shah!" " Here we go again." " Down with the Shah!" "Marji, bed!" "Now!" "Down with the Shah." "Down with the Shah." "Your message of protest has been heard." "Together, as a nation, we will attempt to forge a path towards democracy." "Hand in hand, we will build a new future." " Siamak." "They let you out?" " Hello, Ebi." "It's Siamak." "He's back." "Hello, Tadji." "Come in!" "We're so glad you're alive!" "Please don't just stand there." "Come on in." "Oh, this must be Marjane." "You've grown so much." "When I was arrested, you were just a baby." "Now, you're practically a young lady." "Who is that guy?" "That's my father." "He was in prison." "He's a hero." "They were scientists." "They'd studied the human body." "They knew exactly how to cause the most pain." "They whipped me so many times with electrical cords that my foot now resembles anything but." "And do you know why?" "On the soles of the feet, there are nerves that go directly to the brain." "The pain is indescribable." "Our torturers had been specially trained by the CIA." "Needless to say, their techniques were state-of-the-art." "And Hamid, what happened to him?" "Hamid?" "He was assassinated." "As a guerrilla member, they put him through hell." "He had cyanide with him in case he was arrested." "Unfortunately, he didn't get a chance to use it." "He must have suffered terrible torture." "Whoever loses will be tortured to death." " Yeah!" "That's cool!" " What kind of torture?" "The loser will be whipped on the head with an electrical cord." "But first, he'll have to put this in his mouth and chew it three times." " Yeah!" " Yeah!" "That was Ramin." "Farzad said his cousin said Ramin's dad worked for the Shah's secret service." "His father killed one million people with his own hands." " One million?" " One million?" "Yes." "In the name of the millions of dead, we're going to teach Ramin a lesson." "Yeah, we're going to poke his eyes out." "Marjane!" " What are you doing?" " Marji found some nails." " We're going to beat up Ramin!" " We're going to poke his eyes out!" "And how would you like it if I nailed your ears to the wall?" "Go home!" "Go straight to your room and stay there until I say so!" "Marjane, what were you thinking?" "Such behaviour is not worthy of a future prophet." "But, God, Ramin's father killed loads of people." "Marjane, poor Ramin had nothing to do with it." "He doesn't have to answer for his father's sins." "Evil people pay for their misdeeds eventually." "Have faith in my justice." "Don't take it into your own hands." "Your duty is to forgive." " Ramin?" " What do you want?" "Look, your father is a murderer, but it's not your fault." "So I forgive you." "He's not a murderer!" "He only killed Communists and Communists are evil!" "In the months following the Shah's departure, the country experienced a period of euphoria." "Everyone had been a revolutionary." "Everyone had fought to overthrow the Shah." "Even our neighbour's birthmark miraculously transformed into a war wound." "Our schoolteacher, once a fervent admirer of the Shah, instructed us to tear out all images of the Royal Family from our textbooks." "Political rallies sprouted up everywhere and the domestic enemies of yesterday had become the nation's new heroes." "It was in this climate of happy chaos that, one evening, Uncle Anouche came into my life." "From now on, things will only get better." "Nothing can stop the will of the people." "At last we can build a society based on justice and liberty." "Lenin was right when he predicted the proletariat would one day prevail." "Uncle Anouche?" "How long were you in prison?" " Nine years, my child." " Really?" "Longer than Laly's dad?" "Are you old?" "Married?" "A Communist?" "Marji, give your poor uncle time to digest." "Marji's always asking questions." " You're right to." "It's good to be curious." " Are you done digesting?" " Okay, Marjane, it's time for bed." " Why?" "It's all right." "Get into your pyjamas, and I'll come and tell you all about it." " Did you hear the elections are soon?" " I have faith in the people." "After that dictator, they'll do whatever it takes to preserve their freedom." "Whatever happens, it can't be worse than the Shah." "Okay, I'm ready!" "You're in for it." "She's going to eat you alive." "I said, I'm ready!" "Let's see, I'll start at the beginning." "I was 18 years old when my uncle Fereydoun and his friends proclaimed the independence of the Iranian province of Azerbaijan." "Fereydoun appointed himself minister of justice of this new little republic." "Justice is the foundation of democracy." "All men should be equal before the law." "I soon became his secretary because I shared his ideals." "This is just the beginning, Anouche." "We will free Iran from the Shah's dictatorship province by province, city by city." "I'm certain we will, Uncle." "It wasn't easy for me to stand by my uncle because my father was loyal to the Shah." "My son is a traitor." "Go and join my stupid brother!" "You'll all be shot." "Do you hear me?" "Shot in the head!" "Unfortunately, my father was right." "And one morning..." "Oh, my God." "Fereydoun." "I had no choice but to run, leaving my uncle to face his destiny alone." "For days and days, I walked in the wind and snow." "I was cold and hungry, but I kept going." "I crossed the Alborz Mountains to seek refuge at my parents' home in Astara." "Who dares disturb me at this hour?" "My God, Anouche!" "Anouche!" "It's our son." "He's half-dead." "My beloved son!" "My son, my beloved son, please forgive me." "I couldn't stay." "The Shah's army was looking for me." "I had to go into exile." "I swam across the Aras River and finally reached the Soviet Union." "What did you do then?" "First, I went to Leningrad, and then to Moscow." "I got a doctorate in Marxism-Leninism." "But as time passed, I missed my family more and more." "I tried to return by train with false papers, but it didn't work." "They arrested me." "After that were you in prison?" "Yes." "You know, I'm telling you all this because it's important that you know." "Our family history should never be forgotten." "Even if it's painful for you, even if you don't understand everything." "Don't worry, Uncle Anouche, I will never forget." "Did you get married in Russia?" "It's getting late." "You should go to sleep." "Here, this is for you." "I sculpted it when I was in prison." "It's made of bread." "The Iranian people have spoken." "The Islamic Republican Party has been officially elected with 99.99% of the vote." "It's only natural." "Every revolution goes through a period of transition." "Half the country is illiterate." "Nationalism or religious fervour are the only things that can bring people together." "Mina's entire family has left the country." "They felt it had become too dangerous." "They found Mohsen in his bath, drowned." "Don't worry." "Everything will be fine." "Siamak and his family had to flee the country." "The bastards killed his sister." "Ebi, maybe we should leave the country, too." "What for?" "So you can be someone's maid and I can drive a taxi?" "We must rid this country of all enemies of the revolution." "There's only one law between us and them, the law of blood." " Marji?" " What?" " Anouche has been arrested." " I know." " Daddy." " It's okay, sweetheart." " Do you want to do something for him?" " Yes." "Anouche is only allowed one visitor." "It's you he wants to see." "I'll go." "Ten minutes." "What a beautiful dress." "What a pretty little girl." "You know, you coming here is a great honour for me." "You're the daughter I always dreamed of having." "But don't you worry, one day soon, the proletariat will triumph." "Here." "I made you another swan from bread." "It's the uncle of the first one." "Oh, my shining star." "What's the matter, child?" "Don't be sad." "You shut up." "They killed my uncle and you did nothing." " It wasn't my doing." "The deeds..." " Be quiet!" "I never want to see you again!" "Go away!" "Go away!" "Go away!" "One year after the revolution, Iraq attacked Iran." "Our country was weak and Saddam took the opportunity to strike." "The revolution and the massive purges from within the army had left us extremely vulnerable." "Under the pretence of fighting the foreign enemy, the Iranian government exterminated the domestic enemy." "In other words, the former opponents of the Shah." "Arrests and executions became common practice." "Everyone was afraid." "The new government took the chance to introduce even more repressive laws." "In just two years, our daily lives had changed drastically, and so had we." "All right, girls, it's time to honour our martyrs." "Sons and daughters of Iran, the war has taken the most worthy in the land." "The truth shall rise from their blood spilt in the sand." "For whom did they die?" "For us." "For us." "Hey." "Martyr!" "Martyr!" "Martyr!" "Put me out of my misery!" " Finish me off!" " Satrapi!" " What are you doing?" " I'm suffering." "Isn't it obvious?" "Into class, move it!" "The veil is synonymous with freedom." "A woman who's virtuous is a woman who hides herself from the eyes of men." "Those who reveal themselves are indulging in sin" " and will burn in hell." " Hey." "Check it out." "Our soldiers are on the front every day giving their lives to save our country from indecency." " Look." " ABBA?" "That's for losers." "Exit in single file." "Go!" "Quickly!" " Mum, what's for dinner tonight?" " We could try chilli." "Great, we'll be farting all night." "Give it back!" " I saw it first!" " Yeah, right, you cow." "Ladies, stop!" "The shops are empty one day and you're attacking each other." "If you buy what you need, there would be enough for everyone." " Mind your own business!" " Who asked you anyway?" "Fix your scarf, sister." "Hey, I'm talking to you." "Sir, why don't you try being more polite?" "I deserve more respect." "Me?" "Respect you?" "Women like you, I bang them like whores, then throw them in the gutter!" "Get in!" " Mum?" "Are you all right?" " Yes, I'm fine, darling." "Hey, get a move on!" "Go to hell, scumbag!" "Mum!" "Mum!" "Mum!" "You have to give me 50 tomans!" "Oh, yes?" "For what?" "Golnaz said they're selling cassettes on Gandhi Avenue." " What about your Bee Gees tapes?" " Mum!" "The Bee Gees are rubbish." "Stevie Wonder." " Julio Iglesias." " Pink Floyd." "Jichael Mackson." "Lipstick, nail polish, playing cards." "Iron Maiden?" "How much for that?" " 100 tomans." " 50." " 60." " 50." " 60." " 50." "50." " You!" "What on earth are you wearing?" " What's with the punk shoes?" " What punk shoes?" " Those." " But they're trainers." " You're dressed like a punk." "It's because I'm on the basketball team at school." "And is this jacket for basketball as well?" "What's this?" "Michael Jackson?" " That symbol of Western decadence." " No, that's not him." " It's..." "It's..." "Malcolm X." " Nice try." "That's Michael Jackson." " Lower your scarf, you slut." " You're coming to the committee." "I'm so sorry." "I won't do it again." "Please, Miss." "My mother's dead." "My evil stepmother is very strict." "If I don't go home right now, she'll kill me." "She'll burn me with the iron and force my father to put me in an orphanage." "Please, I'm begging you, take pity on me." "Take pity on me." "I'm begging you." "Please have pity." "The time has come to reap the rewards of our soldiers' bravery." "Tonight, our army destroyed 63 tanks and 26 Iraqi fighter planes." "The blood of our martyrs is irrigating our sacred soil and soon the deserts of despair will be fertile again." "To die a martyr is to pump blood into the veins of society." "You look awful, Mrs Nassrine." "Is everything all right?" "No, it's not all right." "At school, they gave this to my son." "They told the boys that if they fought and died, they'd go to paradise and get in with this key, this plastic key." "They told him that in paradise, there would be plenty of food, women, and they'd live in houses of gold and diamonds." "Women?" "Well, he's 14." "He's at that age." "I've suffered a lot." "I raised my five children with blood, sweat and tears." "Now they want to take my oldest son from me with that key." "My whole life, I've been faithful to my religion." "My whole life, I've prayed." "I've worn my veil, and I've obeyed." "And for what?" "I can't believe in anything any more." "It's me." "Did you hear?" "They arrested the Rochanis." "They turned up and found alcohol and playing cards." "Why are you covering your head, Mrs Nassrine?" "For your husband, of course." "That's how I was brought up." "Bring your son to me." "I'll speak to him, don't worry." "Thanks to my parents, Mrs Nassrine's son never went to the front." "Between the fear of bombs, the regime's repression and spying neighbours, we tried to lead a normal life." "To make life more bearable, people began throwing parties in secret." "More often than not, alcohol was flowing, which was of course forbidden, so my uncle became our family's official wine supplier." "He had converted his basement into a veritable winemaking laboratory." "Mrs Nassrine, my uncle's cleaning lady, helped him crush the grapes." "God forgive me." "God forgive me." "Going to these parties was not without danger." "But it was the only semblance of freedom we had left." "Come on." "Step out of the car." " Papers and driver's licence." " Okay, okay." "Now come closer." "Blow." " You've been drinking." " No." "Don't lie." "I can tell by your tie, you westernised scum." "Young man, I've worked 20 years for this country." "Show some respect!" " He didn't mean to." " Shut up!" "Look, I'm old enough to be your mother." "How old are you?" "15?" "16?" "My daughter's 13." "You're lucky your wife's here, or you'd be in hell already." "Thank you." " Thank you so much." " Get in." "We're going to yours to see if you've got any alcohol." "Grandma, Marji, when we get there, you two go up ahead." "I'll try to keep them busy while you get rid of the wine." " What?" " Relax, it's no big deal." "I'm used to this sort of thing." "I don't mind." "I was always hiding your father's leaflets." "Listen, the neighbour across the hall is very old." "He has a bad heart." "If we're too noisy, he might have a heart attack and die." "Maybe we can work this out some other way." "I'm sure we can..." "Where are you going, you two?" "I have diabetes, my dear child." "If I don't eat some sugar right away, I'm going to faint." " You're diabetic?" "Like my mother." " All right, go ahead." "Where are they?" "There's no ideology behind their arrogance." "A few notes and they forget everything." "Hey, you didn't throw it all out?" " Of course we did." " Oh, no." "It's Taher's heart again!" "They wanted to arrest the Communists hiding in our neighbourhood." "So they threw a grenade." "It was too much for him." "When I got to the living room, he was lying on the floor." "Don't worry, it'll be okay." "No, it won't." "He needs open-heart surgery." "But they don't have the equipment here." "They said he needs to go to England." "I spoke to the administrative director at the hospital." "You're not going to believe this." "You know who it was?" "My old window-cleaner!" "I pretended not to recognise him so the idiot wouldn't feel humiliated." "With the borders closed, only seriously ill patients can leave the country." "This is my husband's third heart attack." "He needs an operation abroad." "Otherwise he'll die." "Well, we'll do our best." "God willing, your husband will get better." "It all depends on God's will." "In order to get him a passport, I need your written permission." "It all depends on God's will." "That incompetent window-cleaner grew a beard and put a suit on." "And now he's the director!" "My husband's fate lies in the hands of a window-cleaner." "He's so religious now, he won't even look a woman in the eye." "That stupid idiot!" "I know a guy who forges documents." "I'll see if he can help." "Calm down, it's going to be okay." "Dad, wait, I'll come with you." "It must be here somewhere." "Here it is." "Look, Ebi." "Looks real, doesn't it?" "It took me a whole month to make this stamp look official." "Well, aren't you cute!" "What's your name?" "How long do you need to make a passport?" "A passport?" "My main source of income." "Well, since my publishing company was shut down." "It usually takes two weeks." "But for you, I can do it in one." "Perfect." "But be quick." "Don't be scared." "This is Niloufar." "I've told her about Anouche." "This is his brother, Ebi." "Hello." "She's also a Communist." "They're looking for her." "Her brother was my courier, so I hide her in my cellar." "It's the only place where she's safe." "Why is he just standing there like an idiot?" "He'll get squashed." "Well, there you are." "What did I tell you?" "That's disgusting." "Don't watch." "Gran, stop it!" "What a crappy film." "Apart from hacking each other up and running away from horrible monsters, the Japanese don't know anything." "Grandma?" "You really think Uncle Taher's going die?" " Of course." " Really?" "You think?" "Well, if he doesn't get a passport in time, he's not going to make it." "I suppose." "He shouldn't have smoked so much." "That's nonsense." "If his heart is sick, it has nothing to do with cigarettes." "It's because his children are far away." "I'll have a bag of fava beans please, nice and hot." "All children grow up and move away, that's normal." "But being separated from them when they're only 13 or 14 because of an absurd war, that's enough to break anyone's heart." "If I were Taher, I would have been dead and buried long ago." "May God exterminate these barbarians." "May God hear you." "Hello?" "Khosrow, it's you." "How's it coming along?" "Are you done?" "They arrested Niloufar." "They ransacked my place, I have to leave!" "Hello?" "Khosrow!" "Hello?" "Niloufar was executed." "Khosrow escaped through the mountains to Turkey and went into exile in Sweden." "Three weeks later, Uncle Taher was buried." "The war escalated." "Let me through." "Please, let me through." "You can't come through." "But I live over there." "Go ahead." " Marji!" " Mum!" " Mum, are you all right?" " Yes, I'm fine." "Where did the missile hit?" "It fell on the Baba-Levys' building." "What?" "The Baba-Levys?" "Ever since our new government has been in office, we no longer have political prisoners." "We fought long and hard for our liberty, and our effort has finally paid off." " Excuse me." " What now, Satrapi?" "My uncle was imprisoned under the Shah, but it was the new regime that had him executed." "You say we have no more political prisoners, but from 3,000 under the Shah we went to 300,000." "How can you tell us such lies?" "Stop it, right now!" " Who was it?" " It was the school principal." "Marji gave the religion teacher a piece of her mind." " Again?" " Yep." "I guess she takes after her uncle." "Don't say that!" "You want your daughter to end up like your uncle?" "Executed?" "Do you know what they do to girls who get arrested?" "Do you know what they did to Niloufar?" "You know what they did?" "It is illegal to kill a virgin!" "So they made her marry a Guardian of the Revolution who raped her before killing her!" "Do you understand?" "If anyone hurts you, I'll kill them!" "A few days after that incident, they decided to send me abroad." "As most of my schooling was at the French school in Tehran," "I was to go to Austria and enrol at the French school in Vienna." "My father managed to get me a visa." "My mother's best friend, who lived there with her family, agreed to take me in." "The night before I left, my grandmother spent the night at our house." "Every morning, she'd pick fresh jasmine flowers and put them inside her bra to smell nice." "At night, when she unfastened it, the flowers would fall from her breasts." "It was magical." "Grandma, how come your breasts are still so nice and round at your age?" "Because every day, I put them in a bowl of ice-cold water for 10 minutes." "I'll miss you." "I'll visit you." "Listen, I'm not one to preach but I have some advice that I want you to always remember." "In your lifetime, you'll meet a lot of idiots." "If someone hurts you, tell yourself it's due to their lack of intelligence." "That way, you'll never sink down to their level, because there's nothing worse in this world than bitterness and revenge." "Never lose sight of your dignity." "Always stay true to yourself." "You'll be fine, you'll see." "Why are you crying?" "Think of your future." "Europe is waiting." "When you get to Vienna, make sure you eat a sachertorte." "It's an exquisite kind of chocolate cake." "And we'll come to visit you." "You're a big girl now." " No more crying." " Daddy." "All right, you better get going." "Never forget who you are and where you come from." "My little girl." " Mummy." " My sweet little Marji." "And Europe was waiting, but not exactly as I had imagined." "After a few days with my mother's friend, she decided there wasn't enough room for me in their apartment." "She wasted no time in finding a boarding house that was suitable, or so she said." "What?" "The highlight of those first few weeks was the incredible array of items that had long disappeared from the shelves in my country." "In fact, for a while, going to the supermarket was one of my favourite pastimes." "One of my favourite pastimes." "One of my favourite pastimes." "In other words, it was high time I made some friends." "Luckily, at school, I could understand what people were saying, and they could understand me eventually." "Got a smoke?" "Among the school's outsiders, I quickly became the centre of attention." "There was Momo, Thierry, Olivier, and Eve." "They found my nationality and past fascinating." "You lived through a revolution and a war?" " Well, yeah." " And did you see any dead people?" " Several." " Wow." "Intense." "I soon became part of the gang." "Thanks to Momo, I discovered nonchalance, the concept of self-imposed nihilism, and Vienna's alternative scene." "I have to admit, it took some getting used to at first." "But in the end I thought, "Why not?"" "After a while, I convinced myself that I belonged, that I was one of them." "But I knew I was different." "And the holidays wouldn't let me forget." "Oh, crap." "Christmas again." "I'm going to be stuck with my whole family for three weeks." "I mean, Christmas is just some stupid American invention anyway." "Father Christmas only wears red and white because..." "Because he's Coca-Cola's mascot." "I'll be bored shitless with my parents in Monte Carlo." "Monte Carlo?" "That's not so bad, you know." "What about me?" "I have to go to Brazil to see my father." "I have a 13-hour flight." "Holidays are just crumbs for the proletariat." "If the anarchists had won at the beginning of the century, nobody would have to work." "So, darling, is everything going okay?" "That's great." "And what are you doing for Christmas?" "Well?" "Well?" "A friend invited her home for the holidays." "Take care of yourself." "Do you need anything?" "All right, then, have a good time." "I love you." "Don't forget to eat fruit and vegetables." "What kind of manners are those, Marjane?" " What's wrong?" " That's no way to eat!" "But everyone here eats in front of the TV." "Perhaps, but not straight out of the pot." "It's disgusting." "So it's true what people say, Iranians have no manners whatsoever." "It's true what they say about you!" "You were all prostitutes before you became nuns!" "This incident marked the beginning of a long series of moves that I refer to as my apartment-hopping days." "At first, Eve and her mother took me in." "Then, I shared a flat with eight gay guys." "Then I lived in a tiny attic on Florianigasse." "Then I stayed with friends, then friends of friends, and finally ended up at the home of Frau Doktor Schloss, 13 Grangasse." "Frau Schloss was a retired philosophy professor." "And as it turned out, also a bit of a nut." "The rent is 2,000 shillings per month." "You like dogs, don't you?" "Of course, I love dogs." "I see Yuki has adopted you already." "Dogs have a sixth sense." "They have a nose for spotting kind people." "In the year that followed, I tried my best to assimilate." "But certain aspects of Western culture remained a total mystery to me." "I had my work cut out." "From Sartre and Bakunin to Brecht and Freud," "I read everything I could get my hands on." "But I realised there were some things I would never understand." "Did you hear the news?" "That swine Waldheim was elected." " I know." "It's nonsense." " It's so wrong." " It makes me want to puke." " It's not right." "We have to go to the rally tomorrow." "What's the point?" "It's all hot air, anyway." "Life is nothingness." "When man becomes conscious of that void he invents politics to give life meaning..." "What rubbish!" "Life isn't pointless." "There are people out there, giving their lives for freedom." "Do you think my uncle died just for fun?" "Pretentious prick!" "My despair was immense." "Here, I led a sheltered, frivolous existence while the people I loved were steeped in the nightmare of war." "I tried, but I could not rid myself of the feeling of guilt." "I wanted nothing more than to live the life of a normal teenager." "Things were about to change." "In the space of a few months, I transformed from a girl into a woman." "This was a period of incredible ugliness." "First, I grew seven inches." "Then, my head changed." "My face got longer, my right eye got bigger and my chin followed." "My right hand became enormous, then my left foot." "My nose tripled in size." "My breasts inflated like balloons, then my butt expanded restoring my centre of gravity." "And last but not least, an enormous beauty spot appeared on my nose." "What did I tell you, Yuki?" "I was right." "She's a prostitute." " What awful music." " They're such a bunch of posers." "All Bakunin wanted was for the democratic congress in Geneva" " to vote in the socialist resolutions." " Oh, right." "Had he succeeded, things would be different." "Capitalism is eating away at society." "You know what I mean?" "Yeah, yeah." "Of course, but..." "Where are you from?" "Marie-Jeanne, right?" "Yeah." "I'm from..." "I'm French." "That's weird." "I didn't think..." "I was in Paris last summer, do you know it?" " Sorry, I have to go see my friends." " Oh, right." "See you." " So you're French now, are you?" " Grandma, don't." "What?" "I'm just asking you a question." "I didn't know you were French, that's all." "Do you think it's easy being Iranian here?" "When I say where I'm from, they treat me like a savage." "They think we're all crazy fanatics who spend their time killing each other." "And you think that's a good reason to deny your roots?" "Do you remember what I told you?" "You must always stay true to yourself." "Do you know what she told my brother?" "She told him she was French." " No." " She did." "I'm serious." " Did your brother believe her?" " Are you kidding?" "With that face?" "Who'd ever believe she was French?" "Was your brother chatting her up?" "As if." "No way." "I'd kill myself if my brother went out..." "Shut up, you stupid cows!" "That's right, I'm Iranian!" "And I'm proud of it!" "After three years in Austria, I began to feel at ease with myself." "Momo, Thierry, Eve, and Olivier all graduated and left school." "I made new friends." "Among them, a baby-faced, 30-year-old hippy named Birgit." "She had a house in the forest where she threw "anarchist parties."" "The government had little to worry about." "These so-called anarchist meetings consisted mainly of drinking beer and eating sausages." "It was during one such party that I met Fernando." "The first time I set eyes on him, I knew he was the one." "Marjane, there you are." "Last night, I had a revelation." "Thanks to you, I realised something about myself." "If it doesn't work with you, it can't with any woman." "You helped me to see the truth." "I'm homosexual." "It feels so good to say it." "Thank you, Marjane." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "After that embarrassing experience, I swore I was through with love." "I'm through with love." "It's just a petty bourgeois emotion." "But life is life, as that song from the '80s goes." "Then, one November morning, Markus came into mine." "Can I give you a lift home?" "I had finally found love." "Suddenly, I felt fearless." "The future seemed bright." "Markus was a talented and aspiring writer." "We would spend hours in his room where he would read me his play." "It was as though we were one." "It's me, darling!" "I have croissants!" "Hold on." "I can explain." "It's not what you think." "Marjane, I love you!" "I love you!" "I can't find my brooch!" "I know it was you who stole it!" "Not now, okay?" "Leave me alone." "Oh, no!" "You are not getting off that easy!" " You little thief!" " Go to hell!" "I hate you!" "I hate you and your stupid, mangy dog!" "You have no right to insult Yuki like that." "Where are you going?" "I won't let you get away with this!" "Go fuck yourself!" "You insolent little thief!" "Give me back my brooch!" "I'm calling the police!" "You come back here!" "Come back!" "How could I have been so stupid?" "That deceitful bastard led me by the nose." "I'm such an idiot!" "Idiot!" "Idiot!" "How could I fall in love with such a pathetic, stingy prick?" " Can I give you a lift home?" " Okay." "I'm out of petrol." "Do you mind if we split the cost?" "And his breath smelt like shit!" "Not only that, he was a moody asshole!" "Damn it!" "That's not funny." "You hit me in the eye!" " Does it really hurt?" " No!" "Forget it!" "Egotistical prick!" "Writer, my arse!" "His play was a piece of shit!" "It sucked!" "And that arsehole didn't even have any balls!" "He didn't even stand up for me in front of his psycho-bitch of a mother!" "Bastard!" "Now I think about it, he always sent me to buy the weed." "That little snot just sat there in the car and waited." "It wouldn't have bothered him if I had been arrested." "What an idiot I was!" "What an idiot!" "That was the first night I spent on the street." "The first of many." "I had made it through a revolution that had taken the lives of loved ones." "I had even survived a war, but it was a trivial love affair that almost did me in." "That's it?" "Are we awake now?" "You gave us quite a scare there, young lady." "You're lucky someone saw you out there in the bitter cold." "You have severe bronchitis." "I strictly forbid you to smoke even one cigarette." " Now, what's your surname?" " Satrapi." " And your first name?" " Marjane." "Where do you live?" " In Iran." " In Iran?" "Can I use the phone?" " Hello?" " Dad?" "Marjane?" "Is that you?" "We've been so worried!" "We haven't heard from you in two months!" " Dad?" "Can I come home?" " Of course you can." "Promise you won't ask any questions." "I promise." "I'm going to put your mother on." " Marjane?" " Please don't cry, Mum." " Come home." "We'll be waiting." " Mum." "No one will ask you any questions." "I promise." "Are you carrying any forbidden items?" "Alcohol, playing cards, music, films, cosmetics, pornography?" "Nothing, sir." "Fix your head scarf, sister." "Of course, sir." "Go ahead." "Look, it's Marji!" "My little Marji." "I didn't recognise you." " You're back." " You've grown so much." "You're back." "I woke up to the familiar view of the Alborz Mountains." "It had snowed during the night, and my father was debating whether to put chains on his tyres to drive to work." "We had breakfast together like we used to do before I left." "My mother made my favourite omelette, the one with tomatoes." "Nothing had changed, but deep down I knew." "Nothing would ever be the same again." "We talked about various things." "But they kept their promise." "They didn't ask any questions about my life in Vienna." "In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think that the nightmare was over." "The war had ended and I felt a glimmer of hope for the future." "The war's over, it's true." "But it's almost worse now in a way." "People don't even know why we were at war in the first place." "Poor Marji just got here." "Give her some time to breathe." "No, I don't mind." "It's all right." "The West sold weapons to both sides." "Unfortunately, we were stupid enough to go along with their cynical game." "Eight years of war for nothing." "One million dead for nothing." "The last days of the war were atrocious." "A month before the armistice, Iraq started bombing Tehran every day, as if they wanted to wipe it off the map." "Right before the cease-fire, the regime became alarmed because an opposition army had entered Iran through the Iraqi border." "The government feared that the thousands of political prisoners would be a serious threat." "So they decided to solve the problem once and for all." "They gave the prisoners a choice." "They could renounce their revolutionary ideals and pledge allegiance to the regime, in which case they'd serve their full prison sentence, or they would be executed." "The majority of prisoners chose the second option." "And now they name streets after martyrs of the war." "That's all the soldiers' families have left, street names." "Now, when you walk through the streets of Tehran, you feel like you're walking through a graveyard." "Goodness gracious, you've grown!" "You'll be grabbing the Lord's beard soon." "Grandma!" "So, talk to me, what was Vienna like?" "Well, I don't know." "It was different." " Do you remember Mina?" " Of course, she's my cousin." "Married now." "Has two children." "But she's as dumb as ever." " And Shila?" "Do you remember her?" " Yeah, of course." "She's a lump." "She's got so much facial hair, you'd think she was a gorilla." "And Mojdeh, does that ring a bell?" "Grandma, I remember everyone." "Well, she's divorced." "Apparently, his thing was tiny." "At least, that's what Mehri said." "And Mehri heard it from Shahri, so..." "Well, you'll see them all soon." " Oh, no." " Oh, yes." "You must be able to speak good German now." "Well, sort of." "All I can say is, ich liebe dich." "Vienna makes me think of The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews." "Did you get to meet her?" "Marjane, like stars shine in the sky, you shine in my heart." "You look like a nun." "Anyone would think you hadn't lived in Europe." " Really?" "You think?" " What's the gossip?" "You must have some great stories." "Well, not really." "What are the nightclubs like in Vienna?" "Well, I didn't go to many nightclubs." "I'm not really into them." " What?" " What?" " Did you sleep with anyone?" " Yeah." " So what's it like?" " Depends on the guy." "What?" "You slept with more than one?" " You should sign up for classes." " You should go skiing." "You should really get a nose job." "I'm suffocating!" "It's 40 degrees out there." "I can't stand it any more!" "Cursed hairdresser." "You are unworthy of my son." "Anahita, hello." "Marjane just went out." "Okay, I'll tell her." "Goodbye." "You can't spend all your time watching television." "Don't you want to go to take a course?" "You're wasting the best years of your life." "Get up." "Go out, see your friends." " It will lift your spirits." " They're all boring." "Isn't there anyone you want to see in Tehran?" "In a population of seven million, there must be someone who's not a bore." "Well, there was someone I wanted to see, my childhood friend, Kia." "When he opened the door I knew what Grandma meant when she said..." "He's half-dead." "Kia had fought in the war." "He had lost an arm and a leg." "It was good to see him again." "We even joked around." "All my problems felt really trivial afterwards." "It's strange." "Life really screwed him over, yet he just laughs about it." "I guess it's the only way to bear the unbearable." "That's what I keep telling myself over and over, but I just can't." "It's unbearable." "What I experienced weighs on me but I can't talk to anybody." "Do you know what I mean?" "Everyone around me has suffered immensely." "I was a stranger in Austria, and now I've become one in my own country." "Very well, your illness has a name." "It's referred to as clinical depression." "There are some very effective treatments now." "I'm going to prescribe some pills." "Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" "The ocean air would do you good." "No, really, I just want to be alone." "I'll be fine." "My dear, what are you doing here?" "Well, I'm dead, right?" "My poor child, you don't understand." "Your time hasn't come yet." "Are you sure?" "Quite, dear." "It's high time you got moving." "That's for sure." "He's right, for a change." "You've got plenty to do yet." "Now, get up and walk." "Go and live out your life." "Don't forget, the struggle must go on!" "Right?" "Yeah, yeah, the struggle." " Shit, I'm starving." " Haven't you eaten anything?" "She's on a diet." "You're fine the way you are." "Her cousin brought a Vogue back from overseas." "She never puts it down." " Hey." "I think he likes you." " Don't, it's embarrassing." "Today, we will discuss Botticelli." "The Birth of Venus, which could also be called..." "Primavera is one of his most important mythological works exhibited in the Uffizi Gallery." "In this piece..." "The girls in the back, may I ask you what you find so amusing?" "Dare me to take my veil off between Vanak and Mirdamad." " You wouldn't." " Go on, how much?" "400 tomans?" "You're on." "By the time the '90s rolled around, the era of grand ideals was over." "After the revolution, the government had imprisoned so many students that we no longer dared to discuss politics." "The war was finally behind us." "We were so desperate for happiness, we forgot we weren't free." " Grandma, is that you?" " Yes, I wanted to see you." "Look at you, you're all dolled up." "Is there a special someone?" "Yeah, I was supposed to meet him on Jordan Avenue." "But suddenly, the Guardians of the Revolution showed up out of the blue, and with all the makeup I had on, I knew I was in big trouble." "Then I remembered this guy who'd been staring at my bum." "I thought, "The only way out of this" ""is to put on the poor, defenceless woman act."" " Brother!" "Brother!" " Yes, sister?" "A man made indecent remarks to me just now." "Where is the scumbag?" "We'll shut his filthy mouth once and for all." "He's on the steps over there." "That's him." "Have you no shame?" "Don't you have a mother, a sister?" "Would you want to see them insulted?" "I didn't do anything!" "I swear on my mother's grave!" "What did they do with him?" "They took him in." " And you find that amusing?" " Don't you?" "I find what you did abominable!" "That's what I think!" " Grandma, you know I had no choice." " Yes, you did." "You had a choice!" "Everyone has a choice!" "Life, everyone always has a choice!" "Did you forget that your grandfather spent a third of his life in prison for defending the innocent?" "And what about your Uncle Anouche?" "Have you forgotten why he died?" "What did I teach you?" "Integrity!" "Does that word mean anything to you, young lady?" "Shame on you!" "Will the woman with the shoulder bag please stop running?" "The woman with the shoulder bag, stop running." "Hey, you." "Stop where you are!" "Mind telling us why you're running, sister?" "I'm late." "I have class in five minutes." "But you can't run like that." "When you run, your rear end jiggles." "It's immodest." "Well, then stop staring at my bum!" "This is ridiculous." "She looks the same from every angle." "We're studying anatomy, and all we can see is her enormous nose." "All students must report immediately to the main assembly hall." "Those who fail to attend will be suspended for two weeks." "We must behave appropriately." "It is from the blood of martyrs that the flowers of our revolution have blossomed." "To behave shamelessly is to trample on the blood of all those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom." "That is why I ask all the women present here today to refrain from wearing wide-legged trousers and makeup, and to wear longer head scarves that cover their hair entirely." "Are there any questions?" "If not, the meeting is adjourned." "Yes?" "You say that our veils are too short, that our trousers are indecent, that we wear makeup, etcetera, etcetera." "As an art student, most of my time is spent in the workshop." "In order to draw, I need to be able to move freely." "A longer head scarf would make it more difficult." "You criticise us for wearing wide-legged trousers even though they hide our curves effectively." "But knowing these trousers are in fashion right now, I pose the question:" "Is religion protecting our modesty or is it just opposed to fashion?" "Your criticism is always directed at women, yet our brothers here today wear all sorts of clothes and hairstyles." "Sometimes, they wear clothing so tight you can see their underwear." "I don't understand why, as a woman, you don't think I'd be affected by the sight of men in tight trousers, but you're worried they'll be turned on by a few less inches of veil?" "Serves them right." "You practically cut off their little thingies." "Will you please take off that awful veil?" "It makes me claustrophobic." "I'm so used to it, I forget I'm wearing it." "Don't ever forget it." "Fear is what makes us lose our conscience." "Fear is also what turns us into cowards." "What you did took courage." "I am proud of you." " I want to leave." " And go where?" "I don't know, anywhere." "The US, Europe." "Where in Europe?" "I don't care." "I've had it with Iran." " What about us?" " Well, you'd come with me." "I don't want to leave." "That's because you're still nostalgic." "You'll get sick of people sticking their noses in." "Maybe, but in the West, you could die on the street and they'd walk right over you." "Don't worry." "We'll find a way." "What is your relationship to this man?" "Fine." "Do you know what's going to happen?" "We're going to call your parents." "Either they pay, or you get whipped." "When your mother and I were 15, we would walk through the streets holding hands." "It was a different time and it was this very same country." "I hate to say it, but that's just how it is now." "We have to make do." "The two of you will have to be more careful." "If you ask me, you should avoid seeing each other in public." "This situation is intolerable." "We can't go anywhere." "We're like prisoners." " It's no life!" " True." "We could get married." "Well?" " Have you been crying, Mum?" " No." "All I wanted was for you to be independent, educated, cultivated." "And you go and get married at 21." "I want you to leave Iran!" "I want you to be free, and emancipated!" "Don't worry, Mum." "Trust me." "I know what I'm doing." "One year later" "Have you seen my car keys?" "My car keys." "They were right here on the table." "No, I don't know." "They were here earlier." "He's like a stranger." "But you were so good together." "You were the perfect couple." "Perfect couple, my arse." "What do you want?" "My photo?" " Loser!" " Just a little while back, you said you were madly in love, remember?" "Being in love is easy when you don't see someone all the time." "But living under the same roof is another story." "But what can you do?" "You're not going to divorce him?" "I don't know." "My sister left her husband last year." "The minute she was divorced, every man in the neighbourhood wanted to sleep with her." "First, the butcher made a move on her, then it was the baker, then the grocer." "Even the bums." "Men are all the same." "They think their thingamajig is so irresistible that a divorced woman has no reason to reject them, because she's not a virgin." "Unless your life is horrible, stay with him." "Maniac!" "What's all the fuss about?" "What's happened?" "I'm sorry." "No need to be sorry." "Just tell me why you're so upset." "Grandma!" "It's terrible." " What's so terrible?" " I don't think..." "I don't think I love Reza any more!" "And I think I want a divorce!" "Oh, is that what's so terrible?" "I was afraid someone had died." "What a lot of fuss." "You know I have a heart condition, don't scare me like that." "All these tears over some silly divorce." "Listen to me." "I got divorced 55 years ago." "And I can tell you, back then, no one got divorced." "I've always said that I'd be better off alone than with some jerk!" " But..." " No buts!" "A first marriage is just practice for the second." "You'll be much happier the next time around." "You're crying because you made a mistake." "It's hard to admit when you're wrong, isn't it?" "Where were you?" "I was worried." "You could have called." "Nima's dead." " What?" " Nima is dead." "I'm leaving you." "The time had come for me to leave." "I decided to go to France." "I waited three months to get a visa." "I went with my grandmother to the shores of the Caspian Sea and filled my lungs with its special air." "An air so special, it doesn't exist anywhere else." "Then I went to my grandfather's grave, and promised to make him proud." "Finally, I went to the back of the prison where my Uncle Anouche was buried somewhere alongside thousands of other innocent victims." "I gave him my word that I would do my best to be true to myself." "And before I knew it, it was time to leave." "My father cried as always." "This time, you're leaving for good." "You're a free woman." "Today's Iran is not for you." "I forbid you to return." "Okay, Mum." " Grandma." " My precious child." "That was the last time I saw my grandmother." "She passed away shortly afterwards." "Freedom always has a price." "Nasty weather, huh?" "Where are you coming from?" "Iran." "Grandma?" "You always smell so nice." "How do you do it?" "I'll tell you." "Every morning, I pick fresh jasmine flowers and when I get dressed, I put them into my brassiere." "That way, I smell nice all day." "Wow, that's great!"