The Stoning of Soraya M.
The Stoning of Soraya M. is an infuriating film. That it is based on a true story is completely galling. In the mid 80’s Iran had settled into a theocracy where mullahs were the law. Soraya (Mozhan Marnò) the mother of four in a rocky, remote village is trapped in a loveless marriage. Her abusive husband Ali (played with soulless gravity by Navid Negahban) wants to divorce her and marry a 14 year old girl but when Soraya refuses to be cut off with no support Ali accuses her of adultery, a crime punishable by death. By blackmailing the town cleric (Ali Pourtash) Ali gets a guilty verdict in a trial with no judge or jury and attended only by men so that the defendant has no chance to plead her case or face her accuser. So called justice is immediate so within an hour and with none of the sheer brutality lost by the film makers, she is buried up to her waist and stoned to death by her friends, neighbours and most sickeningly of all blood relatives. Like many such abominations around the world this too would have gone unnoticed except that Soraya’s aunt Zahra (Shohreh Aghdashloo) was able to relate her story to French journalist Sahebjam Freidoune (James Caviezel) who turned it into a 1994 best seller. The film opens with a quote from Iranian poet Hafez - “Don’t act like the hypocrite who thinks he can conceal his wiles while loudly quoting the Koran” - wise words written in the 14th century. Too bad that after 700 years they’re still being ignored.