Catherine and Chiara

Catherine Deneuve and Chiara Mastroianni, mother and daughter take seats in a posh suite at the Waldorf Astoria for a press conference about their new movie “Persepolis,” the closing night selection for the New York Film Festival. Each one distinctly gorgeous, the iconic Deneuve beautifully coiffed and her daughter who looks like a female version of her dad, Marcello, all that glamour when only their voices are featured. Based on the graphic memoir and directed by its author Marjane Satrapi, the new film, feature-length animation in black and white, is a bildungsroman set in Iran, from the time of the shah to sometime in the present. Marjane, a little girl accustomed to play, must take the veil, see her beloved uncle jailed, and bear family life in an atmosphere of fear under a repressive regime. As is illustrated in the Pulitzer Prize winning graphic memoir, Maus--Art Spiegelman's work being a major influence along with the stark images in the films of F. W. Murnau--much can be shown in cartoon form. Being French, Deneuve lights up a cigarette, and has to put it out as a journalist protests. Perhaps unaccustomed to such reprimand, Deneuve obliges but asks, “Since when? Since it is forbidden to smoke in America ?” Deneuve had wanted to do a voice and had read Persepolis, hugely popular in France, so when this film project came along she thought it was a great idea. She has been daring in her choices in recent years. Last year she played a queen for laughs, in the film “Palais Royale” directed by the comedienne Valerie LeMercier.  But how different is it when the body is not involved? “The acting in “Persepolis” is the same as if you were physically involved because this script is realistic” says Mastroianni. “It's not like you have to be a duck.”“That would be appealing,” says Deneuve, not missing a beat. Do you think of yourself as an ambassador when you do foreign publicity for a film? “No,” says Catherine Deneuve. “Yes,” protests her daughter, “as the Queen of France.”

                                                                      Regina Weinreich

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wow mother like daughter they are so beautiful