"Persepolis"

I'm not into graphic novels but watching the film "Persepolis"earlier this week made me open my mind to the possibilities.

The movie had come up in our Netflix queue and somehow I'd missed the buzz that surrounded it when it was nominated for a 2007 Oscar for Best Animated Feature. After seeing a string of lackluster American movies churned out by the Hollywood studios, this French film was a refreshing change in terms of its subject, originality and form. (Click here to see the trailer.)

The U.S. version, of course, is subtitled and presented in black and white animation. Yet, it doesn't take long to immerse yourself in the story and empathize with the main character, Marji. The movie is based on an autobiographical graphic novel, and the plot is expertly summarized by IMBd:

"In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Statrapi [pictured above] watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own. With Marji dangerously refusing to remain silent at this injustice, her parents send her abroad to Vienna to study for a better life. However, this change proves an equally difficult trial with the young woman finding herself in a different culture loaded with abrasive characters and profound disappointments that deeply trouble her. Even when she returns home, Marji finds that both she and homeland have changed too much and the young woman and her loving family must decide where she truly belongs."

It's a terrific film, with lots of emotional swings as you root for Marji, a young woman yearning for the freedom to be herself.

By sheer coincidence, I had lunch this week with a former summer intern -- let's call her "Marjon" -- whose family immigrated from Iran. Marjon would often visit relatives who still live there, but she hasn't been able to go in recent years because of the political situation. She told me of a cousin who was arrested around the time of the June 12 elections that sparked worldwide protests after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed victory in the face of obvious fraud. Her cousin, she said, was almost certainly tortured but doesn't want to talk about it.

Marjon works as a reporter at a daily newspaper in the Southwest U.S. She is one of the kindest, gentlest people I know, so I could only imagine the depth of her feeling and passion for justice when she told me she'd like to return to Iran, despite the obvious danger, to work for change. If that's not possible, she said, she'd like to fulfill a lifelong dream and work with the international group Doctors Without Borders.

How tragic that a buffoon like Ahmadinejad can command international attention with a speech at the United Nations ths same week that I sit across from a gracious, intelligent young woman who represents the flower of that troubled country. History, I'm sure, will vindicate the brave people who took to the streets of Tehran to protest the June election and earned the respect and support of freedom lovers around the world.