Need a good reason to hate Iranians? by Nick van der Leek
Feminists will love this film, so will politicians bent on invading Iran on the premise of more weapons of mass destruction. The weapons of mass destruction is an interesting metaphor, because in 'SORAYA', those with the most sin, cast the most stones.
The New York Times provides a brilliant summary of what this film is about. STEPHEN HOLDEN writes:
“The Stoning of Soraya M.,” a true story of religiously sanctioned misogyny and mob violence in an Iranian village, thoroughly blurs the line between high-minded outrage and lurid torture-porn.
On second thoughts if you've not watched a frame of this flick, that may not mean much to you. So here's a suggestion to get you into the ballpark. It's like an Iranian version of the crucifixion, and in this, Jesus is a woman, Soraya [sensitively portrayed by Mozhan Marnò]. The crucifixion - whether you think it's fiction or not - uses wood and nails. The 'SORAYA' story uses stones. For some reason the story transported me back to Gibson's PASSION OF THE CHRIST. The reason is unpleasant to dredge up, but I believe it is the troubling and absolute dehumanising of a human body by a community that these stories have in common. It's bloody and it is difficult to endure.
In a sense 'SORAYA' is an important film for South African audiences to see. One of its themes is male lust and misogyny, and while those terms may sound dull and politically loaded, the reality is that South Africa is rife with troubling levels of abuse against women, cover-ups, and stressed communities that are easily incited. Having said that, the film doesn't feel like a sermon in a church. It does that most vital public service which is that it reminds us what a community must be, and what we owe to each other to bring this about. And very simply, what we owe to one other is simply our honesty. And manners.
It's also importantto note that in Soraya almost all the men are wicked and controlling. STEPHEN HOLDEN again:
With the exception of the mayor (David Diaan), who has qualms about the execution, and Mr. Caviezel’s reporter, who appears only briefly at the beginning and end of the movie, the men are fiendishly villainous.
There are many stories out there about murder and death and dying, but few that give you a sense of the inescapable and painful inevitability of death. 'SORAYA' does that, and I noticed in the dark of the cinema, while I was watching, that other journalists and reviewers had their hands over their mouths. I did too. The actual stoning is particularly hard to watch. It is easy to like Soraya and to understand her frustration, her sense of helplessness and finally, her terrible but not self-pitying despair. It isn't sentimental, but it is realistic. It is difficult not to leave the cinema having borne witness to such an atrocity - based on true events - and have a sense of not wanting to add to the aches and pains that we have inflicted upon ourselves in this world.
'SORAYA' is a foreign film, with subtitles, and a foreign cast. There is a little English in the flick, thanks to the performance by an almost unrecognisable James Caviezel as Freidoune Sahebjam, a French-Iranian journalist. The Iranian scenes are a refreshing change from the usual Hollywood fare. Cyrus Nowrasteh the director has bases his story in the rocky, mournfully beautiful rural town setting of Kupayeh, in southwestern Iran. The actual filming is elsewhere, an unidentified location. While the actual event occurred in August 1986, stonings continue today, sanctioned by Islamic law.
The violence in 'SORAYA' is extreme, and people who generally enjoy gore are unlikely to enjoy this. The two sons of Soraya show the poignant change from theoretical violence as the reality of the process of what and who is involved in taking someones life. The corrupt relationship between the prison guard [Soraya's controlling husband] and the former prisoner, now mullah [an Iranian clergyman or priest, essentially a local leader of the community] is enlightening. It demonstrates to what extent power and religion can be used to manipulate simple people. For me, the most disturbing scene was the children collecting rocks for the stoning. Like murder, or killing, is a children's game in Iran. The town having a party after such blood-curdling activities asks us to probe our own conventions wherever we live.
It is perhaps no coincidence that Mr. Caviezel played Jesus in Passion of the Christ, since both stories evoke in such detail, the unspoken horrors of the human condition. Is it helpful to have this film come out in 2009? I wouldn't be surprised if this film stirs up powerful resentments against Islam, and Iran. Whether these resentments are deserved is a different question entirely. Because the shining star in this story, the Mary Magdalene, is the powerful performance of Zahra[Shohreh Aghdashloo]. It is in her that we see signs of hope and meaning for the human condition, and any chance of redemption.
Let us hope that people like her are the future of Iran, and that in our communities, there are enough Zahra's to maintain the white wedding gown fabric of honest cohesion, compassion and ultimately, common sense and common decency.
'The Stoning of Soraya M.' is a new release to the national cinema circuit in South Africa.
Score: 8/10
Running Time: 116 min
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