Persepolis (2007)

Persepolis was first released as a French graphic novel, and published in the United States in 2003 during a time when Americans were finally understanding how little they knew about the Middle Eastern culture. The film version will be have a limited release in the States on December 25th, and I will definitely be there. You should be too.

Stolen from IMBd.com, from User Comments:

Not your average animated feature...

Author: nonsequitur247 from United States

...in fact, there is nothing average about this film. Traditionally animated in black and white flashbacks, it tells the story of a French-speaking woman's childhood and young adulthood in Tehran, Iran, and in Vienna during the 1980s and '90s.

Marjane Satrapi grew up in a family of revolutionaries against the Shah's regime and the Islamic government that subsequently took hold, and the film literally illustrates her feelings and thought processes as a little girl, following her as the government control in Iran got more and more strict. When her parents insist she leave the country, we also see her struggling to deal with adolescence and missing her beloved family; when she returns, she is also coping with the increasing repression of her freedoms as a woman. Most of all, you see her own personal conflict as she tries to stay true to herself.

This movie beautifully balances both the historic and personal issues and pulls the threads together into a compelling narrative, made a bit quirky by the style of presentation, resulting in work that is altogether touching. A deep and strong sense of truth infuses every part, making the film even stronger. One of my only qualms was the feeling that it ended somewhat abruptly without much of a conclusion. Overall, though, it was fantastic - definitely worth watching.