Review by Justin Bateman
Stars Shohreh Aghdashloo, Mozhan Marno, Jim Caviezel, Navid Negahban, David Diaan, Ali Pourtash, Parviz Sayyad
Written by Cyrus Nowrasteh & Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh based on
the book The Stoning of Soraya M, by Freidoune Sahebjam
Certification UK 18 | US R
Runtime 114 minutes
Directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh
In 1986 a French-Iranian journalist called Freidoune Sahebjam (Caviezel) was driving through Iran when his car broke down. While waiting for it to be fixed, a local woman called Zahra (Aghdashloo) implored him to listen to her story of her niece Soraya (Marno). A devoted wife and mother, Soraya was nevertheless beaten by her husband Ali (Neghaban) who also happened to be an adulterer. His plan was to marry his young mistress but in order to do so needed a good reason to be rid of Soraya. Taking advantage of the good-natured but none too bright local mechanic Hashem (Sayyad) for whom Soraya worked, the husband concocted a story of her infidelity to get her punished - a public stoning to the death.
Even if you don't know the story, the very title of the film leaves the viewer in no doubt as to the outcome. As a result, for most of the running time it's virtually impossible not to be in a state of nervous anticipation as you wait for the inevitable to unfold. Notwithstanding that though is the way in which the event comes to pass. Soraya's husband, whose lover is in fact a 14-year-old girl, colludes with the local mullah in conspiring against his wife in an unfeasibly self-serving way. Not only that, but this is a 'justice' system in which, it is explained to Zahra, a woman is guilty unless she can prove her innocence while a man is innocent unless proven guilty.
As the drama unfolds, so the feelings of helplessness, anger, injustice and doom increase. The tension becomes almost unbearable in the lead-up to the stoning but in the end it is not the brutality of the act and its effects on Soraya that is actually the shocking part, horrific though it is. The truly dreadful aspect is the way in which many of the villagers, all of whom know Soraya, willingly and actively contribute to her death, and do so with an excitement and fervour one might expect at a sporting event. It's sickening to witness people behaving in this way and incredibly it manages to overshadow the physical atrocity taking place.
As a result, the more technical aspects of the film are also overshadowed to an extent but it would not work as well as a drama without the expert direction of Nowrasteh and the consummate acting skills of all involved, especially Aghdashloo. Evidently, this is not an easy film to watch and consequently it would be hard to recommend but for the fact that it is so important. Zahra's bravery in getting the story to a wider audience means that the rest of the world can see the sort of brutality which occurs on a regular basis in certain countries. Barbaric doesn't even come close to describing The Stoning of Soraya M. and if you have even a shred of humanity this cannot fail to move you.