The Stoning of Suraya M
Director: Cyrus Nowrasteh. Cast: Shohreh Aghdashloo, Mozhan Marnò, Jim Caviezel, Navid Negahban. 2009. 116 minutes
Following the Islamic revolution of 1979, Iran adopted the 7th century fundamentalist legal system dominated by patriarchy, which prescribed stoning for adultery. This film is based on the true story of an Iranian woman named Suraya M, who is falsely accused of adultery and stoned to death by her relatives and villagers. The story was told by Suraya’s aunt, Zahra, to Freidoune Sahebjam, a French-Iranian journalist.
Freidoune records the story as told by Zahra, who was still grieving over the cruel and public victimization of a helpless wife and mother. Ali, the middle-aged husband of Suraya, wants to marry a fourteen-year-old girl who is promised to him by the girl’s father as a bribe to use Ali’s influence to escape the death penalty. Suraya does not want to break up her family, and refuses divorce. Ali blackmails the local mullah into helping him get rid of Suraya, by threatening to make public the cleric’s criminal past. He spreads rumours of adultery between the old man and Suraya.
Suraya is dragged through the street by the brutal husband, who publicly proclaimed her adulterous. Zahra makes a heroic attempt to save her hapless niece, but it fails. The convicted Suraya is stoned. As per the custom, the husband throws the first stone, followed by the victim’s sons and her own father. Even the woman’s body is treated with indignity, leaving it by the river side, for Zahra to come secretly later to offer a burial. The story is later published to the outer world as desired by the righteous Zahra. The movie is a powerful indictment of the dire conditions faced by women under primitive socio-religious values in many communities as well as a plea for a more just society.
12 Years a Slave
Director: Steve McQueen. Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong’o, Brad Pitt, Dwight Henry,Dickie Gravois, Bryan Batt ,Ashley Dyke, Kelsey Scott, Quvenzhané Wallis. 2013. 134 minutes.
This is a true story based on the experiences of a free Afro-American during the horrendous time of slavery in the Southern United States. Solomon Northup, a fine violinist and free African-American man, is leading a happy family life in New York state. He is tricked by a pair of crooks and sold into slavery in the South. He undergoes twelve years of harrowing experiences as a slave. Northup is imprisoned, abused, tortured. He witnesses hangings and rape. Being educated itself is a crime here; so, he keeps it secret.
His unjust subjugation does not break his spirit, in spite of the brutalities of his “master,” Edwin Epps. He sees how the Bible itself is used to justify slavery and intimidate the African slaves into total submission to the white masters. Northup shares the atrocities inflicted on them and sees the despair of others separated from their children and sexually abused too. At one point, he is unjustly accused by a jealous overseer, leading to a physical fight, resulting in Solomon being almost hanged to death for hitting a white master. He makes an attempt to escape by writing to his friends in the North, but is betrayed by a white man. He gets his lucky break when he meets a Canadian labourer named Samuel Bass, who is against slavery, because it is un-Christian and anti-human. Bass helps Solomon send a letter to friends in the North. Solomon’s legal status as a free man is made known by the local sheriff. He is also identified by an old acquaintance, which leads to his release.
This period-piece haunts us with its graphic images of brutality inflicted upon the victims of slavery. It shows how racists can use even religious texts to justify inhuman behaviour. It is also a tribute to human will, hope and resilience in the face of brutality.
Dr Gigy Joseph
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