Persepolis and Alice's Tea Cup

Persepolis
Written/directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud

Inspired by Marjane Satrapi's eponymous autobiographical graphic novel series, Persepolis shares the story of a precocious Iranian girl during the Islamic revolution. Marjane's happy-go-lucky childhood of dreaming of attaining sainthood and impersonating Bruce Lee is tainted by fundamental fanaticism, terror and oppression. At age 14, she is sent away to school in Vienna to escape worsening conditions at home. As a teenage refugee, she discovers love, searches for acceptance, and copes with her own cultural identification in exile. She is forced to grow up fast in a changing and confusing world.

What results is a powerful, witty, and highly-cinematic film. Satrapi's pen and ink drawings are beautifully expressive, evoking the charged memories of her own coming-of-age journey. While the characters and scenery are depicted in black and white, their conditions aren't that apparent.

This is not only a film exploring complex religious issues through an innocent protagonist, it is also about the concept of home and the evolving perception of self. Marjane's diary-like narration is, at times, that of an animated Anne Frank or Holden Caulfield with more adversity. Marjane is a compelling and flawed heroine. She reminds us of our own potentials vividly imagined as children and sometimes neglected or forgotten over time. Young Marjane never becomes the saint she aspired to be. However, grown Marjane is a storyteller; one who transmits holy words of a voiceless people.

Goes well with the Madhatter high tea at Alice's Tea Cup; both will make you nostalgic for childhood treasures.