Review of The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009) by Tripp S — 12 Dec 2010

The Stoning of Soraya M (2008): Here is a movie that the world needs to see; here is a movie that needs to be better.

Still, Cyrus Nowrasteh does well in conveying the utter helplessness of Soraya's world. Her village in Iran is small, remote, and corrupt. Her death was not in vain, which is the ideal ending of a tragic story, but this is all too simple; besides the actual stoning, it's unrealistic. The message is loud and clumsy, and the director talks to the audience in a straightforward message of wrong and right.

Isn't this what has the village in trouble in the first place? Trying to interpret God's will?

In one scene, Soraya leads her daughters through a field, and birds take to flight. "Angels, mommy!" one ingenuously cries. Yes, we see the cute little girl and we know that the birds--and women--are angels. But we all are God; we all are precious.

Soraya's sons are missing from this scene for obvious reasons: This movie is about the government and its bias toward the fairer sex, and not about the male proclivity toward abuse. One could be confused if it weren't for the inclusion of Soraya's youngest son, who sympathizes with his mother. In the end, he (too) stones her. So, the government is corrupting the men, and not the other way around.

Nevertheless, the characters are lacking: Soraya's husband, as an antagonist, is not a man of motives, but rather of pure lust and hatred. He isn't real, and we see nothing through his eyes but contempt. Similarly, Soraya was convicted based on the falsehood of the village idiot. "I'm a simple man," he says, while the film connotes, "Aren't all men simple?" Furthermore, the village mob is faceless, inhumane, and representative of the mass--not the best way to represent the people. Like the other archetypes, they're representative of an idea for substance, which would be better switched as substance for an idea.

I'm personally glad that most people like this film regardless of the critics' reviews. But maybe one day, we can approach this type of thing intellectually--not a mass simply driven by the spectacle of a bloody stoning. Then, perhaps real action will prevent the stoning of the next Soraya M.

Otherwise... Inshallah. The translation was well done, and film has brought another lucid assault against the darkness of ignorance. The people are angry against injustice, and The Stoning of Soraya M. is their livid film.