The Stoning of Soraya M., Cyrus Nowrasteh

An extraordinarily compelling depiction of the barbaric practice of stoning, this film's strength lies in its subject matter. As befits the subject matter, there is nothing subtle in this film. The male antagonists are clearly identified within the first minute, and our understanding of them seldom strays from first impressions. The men, particularly Soraya's husband, Ali, seldom rise about caricatures. On the other hand, the female protagonists remain defiant victims throughout. Their virtues are never questioned and our sympathies for them never waver. An important source of the tension is the time and place: 1980s rural Iran, where Sharia law rules but memories of more western practices have not faded. Though I tried to resist, it's easy for a western observer to believe the unrelieved misogyny in Iran after the Islamic revolution.

The film's climactic stoning scene of the stoning is one of the graphic scenes of violence I've ever witnessed: Soraya, buried up to her chest in a pit, with only her torso and head above ground, in becomes a fixed target for the villagers' stones collected by the children. Rather than a general melee of stones, the film depicts a slow process, wherein the men closest to Soraya--her father, husband, and sons--are chosen to pelt the first stones: each man knows exactly the damage he inflicts. Eventually, the process devolves into a free-for-all.

This grim scene is followed by an unnecessarily clever, even comic, getaway for the journalist.

Despite its flaws, the film deserves our attention.

Recommend.