Stoning Of Soraya M., The (2008) [Blu-ray]
Crime | Drama

Tagline: When a deadly conspiracy became a shameful cover-up One witness refused to be silent.

From a producer of The Passion Of The Christ comes this chilling true story. Academy Award nominee Shorheh Aghdashloo stars as Zahra, a woman with a burning secret. When a journalist (Jim Caviezel) is stranded in her remote village, Zahra takes a bold chance to reveal what the villagers will stop at nothing to hide. Thus begins the story of Soraya (Mozhan Marno), a kind woman whose cruel, divorce- seeking husband trumps up false charges of infidelity against her, which carry an unimaginable penalty. Soraya and Zahra attempt to navigate the villagers' scheming, lies and deceit to prove her innocence. But when all else fails, Zahra must risk everything to use the only weapon she has left - her voice - to share Soraya's shocking story with the world.

Storyline: A drama set in 1986 Iran and centered on a man, Sahebjam, whose car breaks down in a remote village and enters into a conversation with Zahra, who relays to him the story about her niece, Soraya, whose arranged marriage to an abusive tyrant had a tragic ending. Written by Anonymous

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Dustin Somner, March 31, 2010 -- In 1994, French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam published a book titled The Stoning of Soraya M., in which he recounted a story told to him by the aunt of a slain Iranian woman from a village he passed through. The book gained international attention among human rights organizations with a desire to eliminate the practice of executions by stoning. Two years after the book was released, Cyrus and Betsy Nowrasteh began a crusade to bring the events of the book to the big screen, and eventually bought the film rights. Betsy Nowrasteh wrote the first draft of the screenplay, since she believed she experienced a deep connection with the victim of the story (according to her comments in the audio commentary), and after several revisions, the couple had a product they felt worthy of shopping around to various producers. That role was eventually filled by Stephen McEveety (longtime collaborator with Mel Gibson), and Cyrus Nowrasteh took the helm as director. After a six week shooting schedule within a remote village, the film was released at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival to notable acclaim. Unfortunately, the film debuted in only a handful of North American theaters throughout 2009, and never gained much traction.

Although the title says it all, this is one situation where I feel it's warranted to warn viewers about spoilers contained within the following synopsis.While travelling through the arid countryside of Iran, journalist Freidoune Sahebjam (Jim Caviezel) becomes stranded in a small village when his car breaks down. While waiting for it to be fixed, he encounters a woman (Shohreh Aghdashloo) who insists the town is evil, and requests a moment of his time. Curious about her claims, Sahebjam reluctantly agrees to a meeting at her house and records her account of the tragic life and death of her niece, Soraya (Mozhan Marno). Going back weeks prior, we learn Soraya was married to an abusive prison guard named Ali (Navid Negahban), who views woman as possessions. After meeting a wealthy doctor within the prison, Ali strikes up a deal to marry the doctor's 14-year-old daughter in exchange for his life (the poor doctor is sentenced to death for an unknown crime). Unfortunately, he's unable to marry the girl until his current wife Soraya grants him a divorce. Knowing a divorce would subject her two daughters to the same horrible life she endured as a child, Soraya refuses Ali's request and endures further beatings at his hands as a result. Meanwhile, Ali enlists the aid of the local holy man named Mullah (Ali Pourtash), who he's blackmailing over knowledge of his prior life of crime. Together, the two men begin a campaign to convince the people of the village that Soraya has been unfaithful to her husband, knowing the consequence of the verdict will result in her death. Using hand-picked portions of Islamic Law, it soon becomes clear to Soraya and her aunt that a woman's word holds little value in a social system ruled by men, and Soraya may face the ultimate price as a result.As the closing credits appeared at the end of the film, I literally felt sick. In fact, I intended to begin my review immediately afterwards, but decided it might be better to let my emotions cool down in the interest of providing an objective opinion. Watching a film such as this, it's easy to develop a knee-jerk reaction that paints a certain religion or race in an all-encompassing manner, and forget the idea that we're dealing with bigger issues facing all of humanity. If you transplant the story of Soraya from the setting in which it's told, you'll begin to realize this is a tragic illustration of mob mentality, and our inability to think rationally when we suppress one side of the equation. Manipulation, greed, lust, and power are deep motivating factors behind the atrocities portrayed in the film, but the real evil is simply a rejection of justice. As a woman, how can you safely exist in a society where you're denied basic rights? At one point in the film, the town mayor tell Soraya "If a man accuses his wife of adultery, it is up to the wife to prove her innocence, yet if a woman accuses a man of adultery, it is the woman's responsibility to bring evidence of his guilt." Since it's impossible to prove your innocence in a situation that lacks evidence on either side, the males within the societal construct hold ultimate power over their counterparts. I don't know enough about Islamic Law to suggest this is a universal concept within Iran or any other Islamic nation, but the film does present a valid argument against any system of justice that values the word of one class, race, or religion over another.Moving past the natural emotional reaction to a story of this sort, and focusing merely on the merits of the film itself, I was quite pleased with the production. Cyrus Nowrasteh is a sure-handed director with an eye for staging intense scenes. Whether capturing the uncomfortable back-handed dealings that lead to Soraya's eventual conviction, or demonstrating the brutality of the resulting execution, it felt as if he'd envisioned these scenes over the past decade, preparing them for an eventual transfer to film. Adding to the strengths on display, the performances throughout the film are nearly flawless, with each actor lending a healthy degree of emotional weight to their role. In many ways, the performances are so compelling that I had a difficult time remembering this is a fictional retelling of events. Whenever you have a film that's based on real events, it helps if the cast can transport the viewer into the conflict without reminding us we're watching actors.As much as I was moved by the film, I feel compelled to provide a certain degree of caution to anyone interested in the story. As we know from the title of The Stoning of Soraya M., the ending is an inevitably depressing aspect of sitting through this two-hour feature. The depiction of the execution lasts far longer than I was expecting, and doesn't hold back in showing every gruesome angle. While I wouldn't say the violence is overly sensationalized, it does tend to overstay its welcome as time marches on. Anyone who's experienced the brutality of The Passion of the Christ and can safely say they're ready for round two should consider this a moving portrayal that's well worth your time. All others should think long and hard about the strength of their stomach, and be willing to walk away if necessary (with the understanding that you won't likely come back).

The Stoning of Soraya M. is a difficult and frustrating film that will likely scar your mind for months to come. If you don't deal well with depressing subject matter, or question your ability to cope with depictions of unjust violence toward women, this is probably a film you should avoid. For anyone else, I'd recommend you stick with a rental, and trust my opinion that you'll never want to watch it a second time.

[CSW] -5- A must see film that is excellent but I'm not sure that I could take watching it again.

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