The filming method is impeccable. The small Iranian village was almost turned into Tuscana, especially after Soraya's death, the last long view of the village, the afterglow is like blood, so poignant and beautiful, I can only shed tears for the third time.
The other two tears were:
1.
Soraya was wearing a snow-white wedding dress, and half of her body was buried in a pit.
Ali, her husband, had a ferocious light in his eyes, and the second stone he threw bounced off the ground in front of Soraya, hitting the center of her eyebrows. . Soraya, who had maintained a firm expression throughout the punishment, let out a hoarse, hesitant, and long howl under the tremendous pain, and thick blood slowly left from the eyebrows, and blood blisters gushed from the wound. Her eyes were still looking directly at the onlookers.
I cried because it hurt, I don't know why the big boy next to me was crying, he even sobbed.
2.
Before she died, Soraya's upper body was soaked with blood, and the circle of land below her was also soaked with blood. In her blurred vision is a picture of her and her two daughters running on a flowery meadow. The screen switches to Ali's approaching face, he finds Soraya's eyes open, and screams in horror "This bitch is still alive!" So the last stone is thrown from all directions, the screen switches, a group of pigeons fly up on the grassland, and the little daughter screams" So many little angels." . . . . .
In this world Soraya left, is the only remaining beauty left behind forever, or is it taken away by her?
I have to admit that as a woman, as a woman who grew up in a cultural environment that also has a long tradition of male superiority over women, there is no way for me not to be captured by this film and to devote myself to the fear, hesitation, anger and hatred created by the film. among the emotions of waiting.
Fortunately, the q&a at the end of the video woke me up. An Iranian man came up and stammered and said, "You have several basic mistakes. The relevant regulations on stoning are that if you are caught for adultery in a public place, you need 4 witnesses." Before he could finish speaking, Cyrus Nowrasteh scoffed and interrupted him roughly to say "Are you alright, do you support stoning?" The audience immediately applauded and the speaker was coaxed off the stage. An Iranian girl stood up, obviously a student, and spoke in fluent English, we just wanted to provide some basic information for the knowledgeable audience present. . . Before she finished speaking, she was interrupted several times by the director and asked her, "You are a woman, how can you not support us?!"
I really wanted to hear what she and he had to say. Unfortunately, the director holding the microphone , In the stealing and laughter of the host and the audience, I can only hear her pointing out how distorted the English subtitles of this film are, and she angrily denounces this film as propaganda.
After that, some Indian classmates tried to smooth things out, saying that as a non-Muslim, he felt that the film was extreme. Considering that he may only watch an Iranian film in 10 years, this film will of course give him the impression that Iran is an evil place. . Whether they are Iranians or Americans, everyone is human, but the film's portrayal of Iranian men is inhuman and evil. Are Iranian men really completely inhuman?
Undoubtedly, this Indian classmate was also ridiculed. The host said, "If you only watch an Iranian movie in 10 years, you can only have a problem with yourself. Do you know how popular Iranian movies are in international competitions now?" But I would like to ask, since Iranian films have come to this point, local directors can only make children's films. Do you expect Iranian films to present a real Iran to the global audience?
I would love to ask Cyrus Nowrasteh, as a second-generation American immigrant of Iranian descent, if he feels he has this mission to present a real Iran. Or to please the world with the convenience of your own blood.
I would also like to ask him how much he is trying to explore a way out while telling this tragic story, while "shouting for Iranian women", instead of building attention, building anger, let the world know is just the first Step, what's next? The women's equal rights movement in Iran is in full swing, and the film not only does not mention it, but in the final subtitles it only says that stories like Soraya are still happening in many villages in Iran.
If the audience who has no understanding of Iran, after watching this film, the only feeling is that there is hell on earth,
mullah (a priest in Islam) can be a criminal who escaped from prison, can hold the Quran, and ask women to obey her husband's request for divorce , and be his own mistress;
jailers can manipulate the power of life and death to occupy young girls;
husbands can beat and execute their wives;
village chiefs can pretend to be deaf and dumb, submit to the powerful, and eat plain food;
fathers can participate in the sentence of death for their daughters , throwing stones at their daughters with their own hands;
sons can take stones from their fathers, smile at each other, and smash them at their mothers;
women can stand among the onlookers and watch their compatriots dying, showing an uncontrollable smile ;
the only good man hasem (and the only man in the film who is good to his wife), after perjuring the situation, he didn't hold his innocent face the next day, like the woman who was beaten to death yesterday It was as if he had nothing to do with the unwarranted charges he was carrying!
The scene I can't stand the most:
After the men from the village committee closed the door and quickly sentenced Soraya to death, all the little boys in the village took action, pushed the cement truck and started to pick up stones, with excitement on their faces expression.
Before Soraya was taken to the execution ground, the eldest son flicked away his mother's hand, gave his mother a disgusted look, and dragged his younger brother away.
Except for the small scene where Soraya's son hides his face and weeps after his death, the whole film is so hopeless, which means that there is no way out for Iran, and there is no hope for the Middle East. Women in Iran have nothing to do but flee to the West like the director's parents. other law.
Cyrus Nowrasteh is a very proud man, but I don't see any sincerity in his approach to the subject. Every audience member who tried to criticize him was rudely interrupted, and he himself said nothing new except to denounce human rights in Iran. The heroine is surprisingly shallow, typical of Hollywood. When I asked her how she felt about playing this role, she couldn't say a word, but she kept scratching her head.
According to the director, all of the film's screenings so far have been extremely well-received. I'm sure it will even win a few small prizes.
As a recurring theme in the film: the world will know.
After the world knows, they don't care.
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