The Stoning of Soraya M

Director: Cyrus Nowrasteh
Cast: Mozhan Marno, Jim Cavielzel, Navid Negahban, Ali Pourtash and Shohreh Aghdashloo
Releasing in cinemas: 27 May 2010
Rated: MA 15+

Most films set out to merely entertain, occasionally one goes much further towards an emotional experience, but rarely are they as disturbing as this singular essay in human cruelty and mob violence. Producer Stephen McEveety knows about pain and suffering, having previously worked on the controversial The Passion Of The Christ, which shocked audiences a few years ago. A link between the two is Jim Caviezel who played Jesus in that film and endured much at the hands of director Mel Gibson, and he now appears as the pivotal journalist in The Stoning of Soraya M.

The film is based on Iranian-French writer Freidoune Sahebjam’s true account of the stoning of the real Soraya in 1986. Soraya (Mozhan Marno) is popular in the village as a pleasant industrious woman, with her children - two girls and two boys. Her only crime being married to a cruel cheating husband Ali (Navid Negahban). Seeking a divorce, he trumps up charges of adultery. In this, he’s aided by the devious village mullah (Ali Pourtash), an ex-convict blackmailed into the plotting. Also involved is the mayor, who is forced to act by peer pressure against his better judgement.

Soraya and her devoted aunt Zahra (Shohreh Aghdashloo) desperately try to prove her innocence amidst the developing anger of the villagers, stirred by rumours and lies spread by Ali and the mullah. But a hastily convened local council finds Soraya guilty and pronounces the death sentence. The day after the execution, journalist Sahebjam (Jim Caviezel) stops at the town when his car overheats. Risking her own safety, Zahra takes him aside and tells him the whole appalling story of the stoning. He only just escapes himself to record the sad history of Soraya’s murder.

An underlying message in the picture brings to our attention the horrific acts being committed around the globe against women in this enlightened age. The sentence of death by stoning or crucifying you’d think belongs to biblical times when miscreants were punished in the most inhumane ways. The distressing fact is that stoning of women for acts of adultery or other sexual violations is still practiced today not only in Iran, the location of the story, but as wide spread as Iraq, Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Needless to say, the film was banned in Iran.

Director Cyrus Nowrasteh (The Path to 9/11) develops a dread sense of tension and obtains powerful emotional performances from the two leads, Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog) and Mozhan Marno (Traitor). The Iranian/American actors seem to been chosen for appearances, to reflect their personalities in the story portrayed in revealing close shots. Navid Negahban (Charlie Wilson’s War) plays the saturnine conniving husband - a villain everyone will love to hate - and you wouldn’t trust Ali Pourtash as the shifty mullah in a farmyard. Both perform their roles with disarming enthusiasm, heaping the gathering doom upon the hapless victim.

The director knows his cinema and works every frame and background noise on soundtrack to steadily build tension to the actual punishment. It will unnerve many viewers, and sets about making a strong case against such appalling mob acts. Shocking moments include Soraya’s sons actually throwing stones at her, and the awful circus - that could be out of Fellini - applauding the execution. Soraya bears the saintly expression of martyrdom as did Caviezel in The Passion of The Christ. A single powerful image of Soraya’s face distorted in a cracked mirror foreshadows her battering by rocks.

Since the title gives away the ending the tension is getting there, knowing the dreaded execution will finally come. The brutal stoning is graphically presented with harrowing realism, sparing no clinical details for the squeamish; including burying Soraya waist deep watched by the aggressive crowd before the punishment commences. A seriously disturbing and vicious scene.

Putting your mind at rest, no one was injured during the making of the picture. You’ll be relieved to know the actress Mozhan Marno didn’t even have one stone hurled at her; it was all frighteningly achieved with the smoke and mirrors of editing and special effects. The horror of the execution is counterpoised by inter-cutting lyrical dream shots. Cinematography throughout is of a high order, capturing texture in close shots and the sinister isolation of the dusty village. Some may see this as exploitation, although the film really goes far deeper with its concerning message. Confronting and not easily forgotten, The Stoning of Soraya M remains a notable achievement.

John Bale