The K Experience

The Stoning of Soraya M.

Present - Here and Now

Monday, 15 December 2008

On Tuesday 9th, I went to see the preview of this movie. Although the title of the movie gave an idea of the gist of the movie, there was no warning whatsoever, how much focus it would indeed take...

The Stoning of Soraya M The idea for the film came from a book bearing the same name by French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam. It was directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh and had its first release at the Toronto International Film Festival. The date for public release is yet unknown as the version I saw was said to be unfinished. I must say however, that the film was good, even very good. I'm not sure if I can say that the film was excellent or even great due to the focus that was given to the, oh so poignant, stoning scene, which I will get to. In fact, straight after the film ended, the audience was given questionnaires to fill in and one of the questions was "Do you think the film is: very bad; bad; ok; good; very good". I couldn't answer. This was mainly because at that moment, directly after the movie, I couldn't use any of those words to describe what I had just seen.

The story centers around the life of a woman, Soraya, whose husband is not happy with her, and therefore wants to leave her, and marry another woman (actually girl would be a more accurate description, as she is 14 or 15 years old). He decides to frame her for adultery which leads to her being stoned by the Sharia Law. In the film, the story is told by Soraya's Aunt, Zahra, who acts as her advocate while she is still alive.

One of the best things about the film was its ability to draw the viewer into the lives of the people in the little Iranian village, especially Soraya's. I was deeply concerned for her well-being and desperately hoped for a positive ending, even though it was clear there wouldn't be one. One of the worst things about the film was its complete and utter lack to prepare the viewer for the carnage that was to ensue, the stoning scene, the climax of the whole movie. It was intense, it was shocking, it was ... too much. The specific turn of events starts with authorities accosting Soraya as she tries to escape the village. They drag her to the town center and put her waist deep into a pre-dug whole. They fill the dirt back in around her, so just the top half of her body is visible above ground and her arms are tied. Her father, is called to throw the first stone, and misses several times. The husband then attempts a shot, which strikes her with precision and force in the center of the forehead. Blood starts to trickle out of the gash that is left. Soraya's sons are then called to throw the next stones, which they do, and then the stoning is opened up to the crowd.The whole scene, which seemed to last forever, with stone after stone hitting her cheek, head and chest, resulting in excessive bleeding probably only lasted about 15 or so minutes. The range of different shots and angles that were used on this section of the movie was vast, the worst of which was the final scene where the camera take on her view point so the audience is transported into her position. The flood of stones thrown by the standing villagers towards the camera was a fitting ending to an already excessive scene.

After I left the theatre I was thinking of the progression to the specific stoning scene, and tried to find something to help me describe it. I likened it to an episode of Friends, which suddenly led to a scene where Rachel and Phoebe get shot and then cut to pieces. Ok maybe not that bad, but, previous to this point in the movie, there had been little or no violence whatsoever. I managed to find an extract from the production notes where the director explained the making of the scene.

“It has to be real, powerful, dramatic and stunning,” says Marinaccio. “You cringe, but just enough that you don’t turn away from the screen. Every shot, every angle was previsualized, using every technique possible. Whether we were going to use a dummy, or stunt performers, CGI or wire-removal. The entire sequence was plotted out two and half months before we went to camera. We knew it had to be realistic, while not being egregious or sensationalistic."

If the above was his intention, then he failed miserably. "You cringe, but just enough that you don't turn away from the screen". Half way through the scene, I must have counted at least 10 people who got out of their seats and left the theatre. I found it extremely difficult to watch, and for the last minute or so, felt that I had to turn away. "We knew it had to be realistic, while not being egregious or sensationalistic." After watching that particular scene it was quite difficult to remember that it was actually attached to a movie, with a story, and with other scenes. Although the audience was warned, with the title, "The Stoning of Soraya M.", as I told a friend of mine, there's stoning, and there's STOOOOONNNINGG!!!!.

The movie and the book clearly held the view that stoning should be banned, which it is in many countries.I don't disagree. However, what I was worried about was the portrayal of Iranians and Muslims in the film, and how the American Public would view this. One of the questions that was asked after the movie focused on this issue. I am sure that many of the people that would see the film would know very little of Iranian/Muslim culture and traditions other than what was told in the movie, which would not be entirely fair. Especially when one considers that in our current era, the Muslim faith and its followers already have a bad rap.

One light at the end of the tunnel is that we were told that the movie was still an unfinished work, so I am hoping that the stoning scene would be toned down somewhat, which would allow them to save what was shown on Tuesday night for the "Extended Stoning Version".

[Sources: Main Picture from "The Stoning" website; Picture of book from Amazon.com. For more information see wikipedia article]