Kernel Rating (out of 5): 
MPAA Rating: PG-13 Length: 93 minutes
Age Appropriate for: 13+. Some cursing, kissing, one giant-sized pair of breasts in a bra during a dream sequence, a woman’s bare butt in bed in a morning-after scene, cigarette-smoking, and brief opium use, as well as a short series of would-be suicide scenarios (a man jumping off a cliff, shooting himself in the head, etc.). But the film’s prevailing themes about death, loneliness, sadness, and the unfulfilling nature of life are most serious.
Marjane Satrapi masterfully adapted her comic book memoir ‘Persepolis’ for the big screen in 2007, and she does it again with new film ‘Chicken with Plums,’ a surreal, emotionally engaging fantasy that is equally morose and magical. Satrapi spoke with Chesapeake Family about the film’s themes and characters.
By Roxana Hadadi
Writer and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi would like to be clear about one thing: The dreamy elements of her new film “Chicken with Plums” are not that dreamy at all. Yes, there’s a fantasy sequence where main character Nasser Ali snuggles up to an oversized Sophia Loren, and Azrael, the Angel of Death, makes an appearance in a glorious all-black outfit, complete with horns and claws. But acknowledging how much of life we don’t really understand doesn’t necessarily makes those pieces fantastical or unbelievable, Satrapi said in an interview with Chesapeake Family—they’re just things we don’t fully grasp, and maybe never will.
