Stoning in Iran, a film review
The Stoning of Soraya M
Directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh
Written by Cyrus Nowrasteh and Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh
Mpower Pictures, 2009. 116 minutes
In Farsi, English, and French
Stoning is bad, but not because of the stones
Communities have sentenced offenders to stoning for several thousand years. The Egyptians and ancient Greeks utilized the punishment, and stoning appears in the texts of the major monotheistic religions. Stoning was, in short, a typical feature of the first Western civilizations. Strange that today stoning is not seen as civilized but barbaric — the United Nations has condemned stoning as a form of torture. Nonetheless, the practice continues around the world, although stoning has been most frequently noted in Islamic cultures adhering to Sharia law.
What is stoning?
The most memorable on-screen stoning — up to now — may be found in Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979). In that scene John Cleese hilariously tries to organize the stoning of a criminal by a group of women disguised as men, only to be stoned to death himself. But real stoning is much worse. A typical stoning requires the victim to be buried up to the waist so as to restrict movement. The executioners then hurl stones from behind a line until the victim perishes.
In The Stoning of Soraya M, a young French-Iranian journalist traveling to the Iranian border is forced to repair his car in a secluded mountain hamlet. It is the early 1980s, and the Shah’s regime has fallen just a few years before. Stricter, more conservative interpretations of Sharia law are emerging. As the journalist (Jim Caviezel) haggles with a mechanic, he is accosted by a mullah and the town’s mayor, who invite him to tea. A mysterious, crazed woman named Zahra (Shorhreh Aghdashloo) warns him not to consort with the men, and the journalist politely declines the invitation. The woman then convinces the journalist to tape record the sordid tale of the event that happened the day before his arrival.
Read the full review of this phenomenal film here.
