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The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009)
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Movie Review by Jarrod
July 1st, 2009
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'The Stoning of Soraya M' is a stirring indictment of a truly barbaric practice; stoning as a method of execution, as mandated by the religious authorities of Islam. I do not know if such a punishment is encouraged by the Koran, but it has been customary in numerous Islamic societies for centuries, and is unfortunately still rather prevalent in various parts of the Middle East and Africa, in countries governed by Sharia law.
The focus here, though, is on Iran. Iran is a regular fixture on American news programs in the wake of its allegedly fraudulent elections; protesters took to the streets to contest the results, and were subsequently assaulted by police. The Islamic Revolution of Khomeini took power in 1979, and since then, it has distinguished itself as one of the most repulsive regimes in the world, rivaled, perhaps even surpassed, only by the Taliban, especially in the category of crimes against women.
Christians used to burn women at the stake on accusations of witchcraft, but that has not happened for a very long time, and certainly does not happen today. The same cannot be said of stoning; most if its victims too are women, executed on often spurious charges of adultery, brought against them by their husbands, and validated by the mullahs, whose ruling on the matter is final. The movie is based on true events, captured in a book by Freidoune Sahebjam, a French journalist of Iranian descent, curiously played here by Jim Caviezel.
He is traveling through a small village in Iran, and is approached by Zahra (Shohreh Agdashloo), who tells him the sad story of her niece, Soraya (Mozhan Marno), trapped in an arranged marriage to the monstrous Ali (Navid Negahban), who wants a divorce, so that he can marry the pre-teen girl that has been offered to him. Soraya refuses to negotiate with him, unless she can find a way to earn enough money to support herself and her two children, a difficult task in . The solution lies in claiming that she has cheated on him, with local widower Hashem (Parviz Sayyad). Soraya has been asked to do household chores for Hashem while he is at work during the day.
He is intimidated into testifying that she did sleep in his bed, a vague statement that is construed as evidence of her guilt. She, of course, is not permitted to speak on her own behalf. The other villagers do not object, except for the outspoken Zahra, who knows what the ordeal is really about, what Ali's actual motivations are, and points them out, but he dismisses her as a crazy woman, and so her pleas are ignored.
Everything builds up to the stoning sequence, which lasts for nearly 20 minutes, and is one of the most grueling, unpleasant, and horrifying things I have seen in a film. I suppose it is necessary to meditate on the savagery of the situation, the cruelty, immorality, and unfairness of Soraya's fate, which she accepts with dignity, and makes no effort to resist. But then I began to wonder, is it necessary? Does director Cyrus Nowrasteh overdo it? How many viewers can tolerate such depictions of authentic, unflinching brutality?
Soraya is buried up to her waist in dirt, stones are collected in a wheelbarrow, and then thrown at her by a zealous mob; I lost count of how many blows she endures, but it is not a quick death, or a painless one. Agdashloo, Oscar nominee for House of Sand and Fog, gives a commanding performance and serves as the flick's moral center, while Marno hauntingly serves as the emotional center.
Caviezel struggles with lines of Farsi dialogue, and why he was chosen for this role is befuddling. Bland from a technical perspective, but then, it would be inappropriate to inject an excessive amount of style into such a depressing drama, particularly one that strives for realism and simplicity. Pic passionately and provocatively condemns those that blindly follow evil religious traditions, and there are no shortage of those, across the entire monotheistic spectrum.
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