Persepolis

Persepolis is an amazing animated movie that tells the story of a young girl growing up in Iran during the Islamic revolution. It is through the eyes of the precocious and outspoken 9-year-old Marjane that we see a people's hopes dashed as fundamentalists take power, forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. Clever and fearless, Marjane outsmarts the "social guardians" and discovers punk, ABBA, and Iron Maiden. Yet when her uncle is senselessly executed and as bombs fall around Tehran in the Iran/Iraq war, the daily fear that permeates life in Iran is palpable.
I found everything in this animated film interesting and real. Seeing the main character Marjane come of age and deal with the struggles of an extreme revolution was a joyful (time well spent at the movies) experience. My favorite thing about Persepolis is that it takes a touchy subject and handles it with grace, using a simple but very effective method of storytelling without the usual cartoon gimmicks. Persepolis delivers a new way to look at filmmaking and animation as a whole. B-!!! Enjoy. ~Caleb

Persepolis is now playing at the Moxie