Persepolis
Starring: (voices of) Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Gabrielle Lopes
Directed by: Vincent Paronnaud (debut) and Marjane Satrapi (debut)
Written by: Vincent Paronnaud (debut) and Marjane Satrapi (debut)

By Kiko Martinez

For those who were dumbfounded as to why “The Simpsons Movie” was overlooked as a contender in the Best Animated Feature category for this year’s Academy Awards, the explanation is simple: art and history will almost always trounce tongue-and-cheek humor, even when it’s as funny as Spider-Pig.

Last year was a disappointing one for animated film. While there was another glimpse of Pixar’s domination in the field with “Ratatouille,” other films like “Bee Movie,” “Shrek the Third,” and “Meet the Robinsons” failed to impress. At least everything wasn’t as repulsive as “Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters” (although I did enjoy the opening segment).

Although it did not make the cut as France’s official Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, “Persepolis” – a French-language film from Iran – was simple yet thought-provoking and creative enough to land the animation nod and deservingly so.

Based on an autobiographical graphic novel by New York Times illustrator Marjane Satrapi, “Persepolis” tells the story of a young Iranian girl growing up in the middle of the Iranian Islamic Revolution. From a child’s perspective, we watch the fall of the Shah and the injection of the harsher religious fundamentalist, a shift in power which effects Marjane’s life in a host of ways. From the American influences she loves (in one scene she is thrilled to find an Iron Maiden cassette on the black market) to her own education, the world Marjane once knew for a short while would never be the same.

It’s a beautiful experience to watch Marjane mold before our eyes, from a punky kid, who has personal conversations with God to a young woman looking to expand in a society that has kept her silent most of her life. Through classic black and white 2-D animation, Satrapi places her personal narrative on a pedestal and exhibits a candid and inventive coming-of-age piece that’s far more intriguing than any number of burping ogres, surfing penguins, yellow Springfieldians could muster.

Foreign animation has been impressive enough to land an Oscar nod or two for the Best Animated Feature, which made an inception into the awards ceremony in 2001. Films including “Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit” and “Spirited Away” have won the prominent award. “Persepolis” might succumb to the same fate as “The Triplets of Belleville” did in 2004 (it lost to Pixar’s “Finding Nemo”), but at least it’s proving the art of animation doesn’t always have to rely on computer-generated swank to be memorable. Grade: B+