Listings for Friday, May 9, through Thursday, May 15, 2008

Persepolis

Capsule by J.R. Jones

From the Chicago Reader

Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical comics about growing up in postrevolutionary Iran have been condensed by Satrapi and codirector Vincent Paronnaud into a beautiful black-and-white animation that both preserves their simplicity and incorporates more fanciful imagery, sometimes from traditional Persian art. Little Marjane, the headstrong daughter of two liberal intellectuals in Tehran, grows into a rebellious teenager who defies the paternalism of the Islamic republic. Shipped off to Vienna for her own safety, she suffers the usual trials of adolescence while trying to come to terms with her national identity. The story's greatest value lies in its elegant twining of the universal and the obscure: Satrapi's coming-of-age should be familiar to all, but along with it come startling glimpses of everyday life under the heavy hand of a Muslim theocracy. In French with subtitles. PG-13, 95 min.

This movie is currently playing at: Univ. of Chicago Doc Films

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