INTO THE MIND - OF AN ENTIRE VILLAGE : THE STONING OF SORAYA M.

Although it didn’t reach this part of the world, it appears that this story was a bestselling book before it was a film in the cinema. Now, you may or may not believe this is a true story. There is only one photograph of Soraya that survives, one that was taken when she was nine years old. You may call it just another money making venture, story made up to sell books and tickets. Fair enough – maybe it is. But this story is, as far as we know, the story of countless women in many different countries. It is the fate bestowed to women in countries where, as Zahra says in the film “the voice of a woman has no importance”. If nothing else it is a shocking example of the practice of stoning and how this horrific tradition is regularly practiced in the middle east. It is a tough film to watch but I feel that we owe it to the suffers to hear their story, even if we cannot do anything else to help them…
Soraya lived in a small, almost forgotten village of rural Iran. She had four children, two girls and two boys. She is a housewife, as are most women in Iran – especially in the countryside. Her husband Ali is not a good man. Not only has he turned their two sons against her, he wants to divorce her to marry a new wife, almost a child. Soraya refuses. She will be unable to take care of herself and her two daughters. Ali however is adamant. He is also well connected. He will use his connections and play on the sensitivities of his neighbors in the village to get rid of Soraya once and for all and completely. With no one on her side but her aunt Zahra, Soraya stands her ground. But the very ground will start to crumble from under her soon enough when Ali’s plan begins to bear fruit.
Now, I have not done any real research into the truth or falseness of the story told here. But what makes me strongly suspect the fact that it is real is in fact the characters. The film portrays the grayness of a lot of things in life that are neither black nor white; it shows us how good people can be manipulated or silenced. It shows us how terrifying “the crowd” can be… Soraya is not the typical “heroine” of these stories. She is pretty, but not a “stunning beauty” as is often the case, for instance. She is intelligent and strong but she is also proud and she will sometimes not listen to the voice of caution or reason because… Well because she doesn’t want to hear. And we have to admit we all do that sometimes. Personally, I cried buckets as I watched this one. And I am not a great one for “having a good old cry” either. It is one of those stories that tell us that sometimes the good and the right does not triumph over the bad in this world… And it gives us a rather harrowing portrait of how it comes about… A must see, in my view…