‘The Stoning of Soraya M.’ Brings Attention to a Terrible Practice

We like to showcase and bring you news of different kinds of entertainment here at The Flickast. From movies to tv, comics, games and all things geek, we try our best to find the most interesting, entertaining and informative stuff we can. Its not always very serious, but we always try to make it fun. But sometimes, a film comes along that’s very serious and deals with a subject that’s not fun at all but still warrants attention. That film is The Stoning of Soraya M.

The film, which features Academy Award nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog) and Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ, Deja Vu), was the recent winner of the LA Film Festival’s Audience Award. It’s based on the true story of an Iranian village’s persecution of an innocent woman named Soraya who’s only crime is being in a bad marriage. This leads her cruel, divorce-seeking husband to conspire against her, trumping up charges of infidelity, which carries a terrible penalty: She will be stoned to death.

Once the plot against her is discovered, Soraya, with the help of her friend Zahra (Aghdashloo) and a journalist stranded in her villiage (Caviezel) will attempt to prove Soraya’s innocence in a legal system stacked against her.  But when all else fails, Zahra will risk everything to use the sole weapon she has left – the fearless, passionate voice that can share Soraya’s story with a shocked world.

With all the talk of blockbusters like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, what movie Megan Fox is going to do next and what old TV show is going to be made into a movie this week, its sometimes important to remember that movies are also supposed to inform and shed light on subjects that too often are overlooked because they are unpleasant. The subject matter of this movie is very unpleasant, but so is what the film tries very hard to teach us about.

Its not a perfect film nor is its message delivered with much subtlety. Its much more “in your face” than that. However, the choices of the director in presenting the material shouldn’t dilute the films message. What this film depicts, the basic denial of human rights, is worth the attention.

The Stoning of Soraya M. is in limited release in Los Angeles and New York, but will be expanding to other cities soon. When you get tired of loud movies that say nothing, check out this quiet movie that actually says something worth listening to.