|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
THE STONING OF SORAYA |
 |
|
"The Stoning of Soraya" is yet another
film giving a prime reason why one should not visit an Islamic country. It is
hard to attract visitors when a village's idea of getting stoned means
actually getting stoned to death. The film is based on the true story
of an Islamic woman named Soraya (Mozhan Marno) who is accused by her husband
of infidelity with her employer. Using extremist rules she is stoned to death
for adultery even though she denies the adultery. Stoning women to death has been a
hot topic for human rights activist who protest the ritual. |
|
|
|
|
|
Islam
sets very specific and clear-cut conditions to prove adultery: 1) The
person accused of adultery makes a confession and does not go back on it.
Once the person retracts his/her confession, he/she is not punishable because
there is no proof of the act. 2) Four
reliable and pious men testify that they witnessed the act and actually saw
the male sexual organ inserted into the vagina. 3) A
woman without a husband found to be pregnant. Scholars agreed on the first two methods of proving adultery, but
disputed the third one; some scholars rejected the third point as proof. |
|
|
|
|
|
Adultery
is forbidden in Islam, which places sentences ranging between flogging to
stoning to death on the adulterers unless they repent and change their evil
ways. However, people are not entitled to stone the adulterers by their own
hands, for it’s the responsibility of the Muslim state and its concerned
bodies to do the punishment in order to maintain peace and security and
prevent chaos and disorder. This
was not the case in the "Stoning of Soraya". The reality is her husband (played
by Navid Negahban) has met another woman with an influential father. Marrying
her would bring him great fortune, but first he must be rid of his wife. He recommends she work for a widowed
neighbor name Hashem (Parvis Sayyad) cleaning his home. She foolishly agrees
since they need the money. She has children with her husband, but they are
boys and it is a patriarch society. Soraya's aunt Zahra (Shohreh
Aghdashloo) warns her that the men are up to no good, but Soraya fails to yield
to the warning until her husband publically declares he has caught her
cheating. It's not true, but they have coerced Hashem to lie or lose his only
son. |
|
|
|
|
|
The trial is presided over by
Ebrahim (David Diaan) the village mayor who believes her husband is sincere.
She is found guilty by an all male jury of her husband's friends and stoned. I didn't give away the story,
because the title tells you what the outcome is. The story is the process to
which the decision is made. It was a no win scenario for Soraya. "The Stoning of Soraya" will piss a
lot of people off. Others will point the finger of hatred toward Islam. But
the truth is radical beliefs occur in every religion though it might seem
Islam is more prevalent. However, during the Roman and Spanish Inquisitions
of hundreds of thousands of Muslims, Jews and anyone who was not Christian,
families were executed for heresy. "The Stoning of Soraya" is a powerful
film (ironically directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh who is a mild conspiracy
theorist). It is beautifully acted by talent mostly from Iran! For people
with a weak stomach, the end might unnerve you. --GEOFFREY BURTON
|
|
