"Persepolis" March 26, 2008

$7/$5 BAC Members

Rated – PG-13 (mature themes, brief drug content, sexual references)
RT: 1:35

The black-and-white animation summarizes in quick, intelligent flashes, often impressionistic, growing up in Teheran and Vienna from a highly personal point of view. Marjane Satrapi, only daughter of an educated Teheran couple, first sketches in briefly how the Shah first came to power, only to lose it and have it replaced by the fanatical religious regime of today. Educated in a French school, she is then sent to Vienna to continue her education, but falls in with a group of punks. When she returns to Teheran she is depressed and disillusioned and must submit to the rule of extreme Islamists. Satrapi's hold on reality is much strengthened under the influence of her highly honest grandmother who teaches her not co compromise, not to betray and not to give in. This is no fairy tale with flying horses and beautiful princesses, but a serious, unsentimental and sometimes brutally honest film covering, among other events, the story of the millions of Iranians and Iraqis who died in a now forgotten seven year war around the Persian Gulf. Nominated for 1 Academy Award, 4 Annie Awards, 2 Cannes Film Festival Awards, 6 Cesar Awards

Official Website: http://www.beverlyartcenter.org