GC Movie Review - The Stoning of Soraya M.

Ebrahim is so torn between doing what he believes is traditionally correct; which means doing what the other men say or helping out the woman he loves. It’s often amazing how situations like this play out when you have a strong inkling of what not to do and the nagging pressure of being liked and accepted rules out. Right or wrong, the loudest voice wins.

Islamic law requires two witnesses when bringing a case before the town court. Knowing that the mayor conflicted and too unreliable, Ali bribes the fake Mullah (Ali Pourtash) by threatening to denounce him as a fake and then he shamelessly attacks a recent widower, who Soraya works for, by threatening to put his mentally challenged son in a mental institution.

Now, Ali begins to spread a rumor that his wife has been unfaithful with the widower. In Iran infidelity is punishable by death - stoning. Than this begs to question; if men can be married and sleep with prostitutes and the whole town approves, then wouldn’t women be the only ones getting stoned for adultery? This double standard is just one of the many injustices being exposed in this film.

No matter how hard she and her aunt tried Soraya M. could not prove her innocence. A woman smiling at a man is questionable, standing too long in conversation is questionable and sitting on the job is even questionable. The accusations can be so minor. For example, if you work for a man and he’s not home and you decide to take a break, rest or nap, that can be seen as inappropriate and punishable. Soraya was accused of all of these. Although she did not do anything inappropriately, she could not deny doing them at all. As well, if her husband stressed it enough, and he did, they can be seen as adultery.

When bringing Soraya before Ebrahim, his only retort was to quote Islamic law, which states that, "Women are guilty unless proven innocent and men are innocent unless proven guilty." In other words, as a woman, if you have no proof, you die. And by this time all of the men in the village were convinced that she was guilty and some of the women had begun already spreading rumors of their own. Soraya had no recourse.