I’m at a loss of words after seeing this film: The Stoning of Soraya M.
A French-Iranian journalist is stuck in a small village in Iran when his car breaks down. He meets Zahra (Shohreh Aghdashloo, Oscar nominee for Hand and the Fog) who wants to tell him the story about Soraya (Mozhan Marno), her niece. Married to Ali (Navid Negahban) with 4 children, Soraya is a devoted wife and mother. Her husband soon finds a new muse in town and plots to get rid of her.
This is one of those movies that will take a while to forget about. I have to credit the director, Cyrus Nowrasteh for making the movie so real and touching. He has rightly captured the feel and brought out emotions from the characters that make you want to cry.
Stoning of women has been around for a while. You can read about the history of stoning here. The plight of women in these countries is something that we just can’t imagine. If it’s a contest between a man and a woman in the court of law, the woman invariably loses as men don’t have to prove their innocence even if they are guilty.
A brilliant and disturbing flick. Warning: might be too unpleasant for some.
My favorite line is a quote by an Iranian poet, Hafiz that was shown in the beginning :
Don’t act like the hypocrite who can conceal his wiles while loudly quoting the Koran.
My rating: 4/5 (had to deduct 0.5 for the 20-minute gruesome stoning sequence)
Credits: Google Images
One Flick a Day 