Review of The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009) by Kiransangvai — 23 Aug 2017

The Stoning of Soraya M….A tool of religion for the lust…watching is must!

Recently watched this irani movie directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh . A journalist is passing through an Iranian village where he finds that his car needs a repair and without it he can’t go any farther. A local woman makes an unsuccessful attempt to approach him but she manages to invite him in her house and shares how Soraya was stoned to death and how the people of this village are so heartless. The journalist records all her say while his car is being repaired. Ali, husband of Soraya is frustrated with her and he wants to marry a 14 years old girl of a wealthy citizen but then he has to share his income to his first wife and their children for livelihood and he simply can’t afford it. So he makes a plan with the local Mulla and as a result Soraya dies of stoning (in urdu it is known as ‘Sangsari’) at the end. Director has succeeded to show the hypocrisy of the world of men, male domination, how Ali turns his sons against their mother and his father-in-law against his own daughter, virtual brutality and use the religion as a tool to meet their physical demands and urges. A revolutionary movement can also be felt from the female characters. This is the best irani movie I had ever seen. It is all in nutshell but there is vast scope to write on this movie since it contains multi effectual events. Despite the perfection of this film a mistake is pinching me (I may be wrong also) and this can be caught by a keen watcher but overall it is a must watch movie.