Having read both volumes of the book, I was thrilled when I heard that the film was coming to Boston.  Hamza and I ventured out into the relative warmth of this weekend to find the cinema at Kendall Square in Cambridge (not an easy feat).  Although it cost $9.50 for a matinee (yuck!), it was well worth every penny.  Persepolis is a rare gem in today’s cinematic universe.  The story leaps off the pages, music and dialogue giving the story drama that the graphic novel lacked.

My only complaint, and a very minor one at that, is that the subtitles were white on white (fortunately, I was able to half-listen, half-read, such is my level of French comprehension).

I highly recommend seeing Persepolis on the big screen; Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel does not do her story, or her artistic talent, justice.

Extraordinary rendition: An appalling practice often performed by the United States in these post-9/11 times. For those of you not clued in by now, extraordinary rendition refers to when the U.S. (or someone else, but usually the U.S.) extracts (kidnaps) someone (often a U.S. citizen) to secretly (Rice denies this exists) torture him (nearly always a him) in a foreign country.

Rendition: A film starring Reese Witherspoon, Omar Metwally, and Jake Gyllenhaal in which Metwally’s character (an Egyptian-American U.S. permanent resident) is extracted upon arrival into the U.S. and extradited to “North Africa” to be tortured into admission of involvement in terrorism. The movie was filmed primarily in Marrakesh, Morocco.

The good:

• Witherspoon gave a heartbreaking performance as the wife of Metwally’s character.
• Metwally, who was nominated for a Tony a couple years ago, was also very good.
• Filming in Morocco boosts the economy.
• Making a major Hollywood blockbuster film about extraordinary rendition can only help to open the eyes of ignorant Americans.

The bad:

• Although it was filmed in Morocco, references were only made to “North Africa.”
• Tons of inaccuracies - women wore their hijab Iranian-style (halfway back on the head), a reporter on Al Jazeera was shown wearing hijab (would never happen), the “North African” characters spoke Fus’ha.
• The Moroccan torturer (played by Yigal Naor, who will soon play Saddam Hussein in a mini-series) was shown as the bad guy, while Gyllenhaal’s character was shown as the good guy.
• Two “North African jihadi” characters were shown in a photo holding machine guns (would never happen in Morocco) and wearing what looked like Chechen headbands.

The ugly:

• Meryl Streep’s acting.

While I’m sure there had to have been a reason for the ambiguity of the country, to the enlightened it would appear that the fact-checkers didn’t do their jobs. Also, if ambiguity was desired, then why film in Djemaa al-Fna?

The only thing that truly pleased me was the general plot, which interwove the Metwally/Witherspoon storyline with one involving the Moroccan torturer’s family…but I’m not going to spoil anything for you.

Basically - if you’re not educated on all things MENA, then watch with skepticism. Otherwise, be sure to giggle when Gyllenhaal’s character arrogantly stands up against that of the Moroccan torturer.

And on one other, slightly silly point - at least three of the actors were also in Munich, the somewhat lame Spielberg film released in 2005. Is there a shortage of multi-lingual Arab actors or something?

You can tell how out of the loop I’ve been by how long this website has been up without me reporting on it: I Love Hip Hop in Morocco - the film - launched this summer and will be playing at several upcoming festivals.

You have no idea - I’ve secretly had the (apparently, very secret) trailer on my computer for over a year and although I’m no longer in contact with anyone who worked on the film, the prospect of such a documentary is immensely exciting. As one of the reviewers says: “Two things the far right can’t stand - hip-hop and Muslims - come together in this documentary.”

I wrote about this awhile back, but for some background - In 2005, a Fulbrighter named Josh Asen traveled to Morocco to study ethnomusicology and ended up producing a concert series and subsequently a documentary on Morocco’s burgeoning hip-hop scene.

For those of you unfamiliar with the scene, you need only look around any of Morocco’s bigger cities (and even some of the smaller towns) to see kids dressed in the latest hip-hop fashions (a phrase often taught in English language schools) and Yankees caps, imitating their favorite American, French and now Moroccan hip hop stars.

Popular Moroccan MCs include Bigg, who speaks fluent English and raps about the problems facing his country; H-Kayne, one of the oldest groups and from Meknes, where I lived for two years; and Fnaire, another group featured in the documentary. I’d provide links, but the I Love Hip Hop in Morocco page is very thorough and has done a better job than I could attempt.

My favorite thing about the movement, if I may call it that, is that it has inspired a lot of young urban kids (as it once did in my own country) to make their own music, often much to the dismay of their parents. My brother-in-law, who has met every group mentioned and was at the original concert (and still talks about meeting Josh) is one such example - an incredibly intelligent kid who doesn’t like school all that much but excels at music and the arts…and may soon have an outlet in which to do so.

**Addendum: For those of you in NYC, please support this film at the Queens Film Festival - November 10 at PS 166.

Project Gutenberg, which offers free online books, and which I truly, dearly love, is now offering Edith Wharton’s In Morocco, which I also truly, dearly love.

This craft, called Damascene, is unique to Meknes. Recently, I had a conversation with one of the artisans (from whom I’ve bought several pieces), and he told me that now, following a recent death, there are only three practitioners of the art (and a few trainees) in Morocco, all in this city. Apparently there is also one in France.

The plate shown in the photo (this particular piece belongs to my friend Janine) is made of black metal, onto which thin silver filigree is hammered carefully, creating the designs (which are, of course, drawn on first by the artist). The man I spoke to told me that the filigree, which he orders from France, is getting more expensive, and that he’s concerned that the cost will raise the prices of the plates to a level tourists won’t pay.

The work is incredibly time consuming, and the plates are inexpensive by international standards. I just bought one of this size for myself; it cost me about 250 dirhams. Not too shabby.

So my question for Syrians is - do you have this craft too?  Any idea why it’s called Damascene?