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PHOTO: Marjane Satrapi. flickr creative commons.

On Saturday I went to see Persepolis, a movie based on a graphic novel by a French-Iranian woman by the name of Marjane Satrapi. The book and the film are her autobiographical accounts of her departure from Iran after the Islamic Revolution.

It is up for an Oscar in the animated features category and has gotten good reviews.

Although the movie is animated, the animation and graphics are breathtaking in their fluidity and realism. The art quickly melts away into a reality for the viewer (yes, my friends and I choked up a few times) and Satrapi’s story is told in a touchingly human way.

My one critique of the film is that it is the story of one individual, one particularly liberal Iranian, one woman with a particular experience. This is the strength of the film, but also its one weakness; viewers should keep in mind this is her autobiography and her view of what happened. This makes it no less valid, certainly, and it is more than worth the $10 I paid to go see it.