LISA'S BESTS
4. Persepolis
Marjane Satrapi had never made a movie before, but she had dibs on the source material: The story is her own eventful account of growing up during the Iranian revolution, moving to Vienna as a teenager, returning to an Iran disciplined by Islamic fundamentalists in the 1980s, moving to Paris, and loving the wrong men too often. And the accessible, feminine, spirited animation style of this superb drama is lifted directly from the pages of the wonderful graphic novels that made Satrapi an international book star in 2003. Working with her codirector and fellow cartoonist, Vincent Paronnaud, Satrapi has made the year's most piquant, subtle animated movie, uniting adults and younger viewers as fans.

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