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Jun 12, 2016breemu rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
As much as I was sickened by the orchestration of this woman's murder by her husband, and the insanely barbaric practice of stoning a person to death, I was equally sickened by the complete acquiescence to such horror by every woman (and man) of the village. Only one woman dared to speak out - and somehow avoided harm for doing so - surely other women (and men) could have joined her in standing up for the victim. When the women of the village heard the false charges against a woman known for her virtue, they came to her aide only so far as to pray, help her "dress" for her unjust execution, and escort her past the throngs of shouting, leering men fueled by blood lust - all their own husbands, brothers, fathers and sons - to the pit where she would be half buried for the stoning. All the while knowing it was wrong. What were they thinking? What was going through their minds as their own male children gathered stones for the "event", and their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers took turns hacking that pit out of the rocky ground, and the woman's children were made to throw stones at her, and all of their husbands, brothers, sons and fathers shouted obscenities at this innocent mother, wife, daughter and friend, as they tortured her to death? In the western world, many decades ago, a small minority of women (and an even smaller number of men who loved and supported them) spoke out against the established patriarchal rule of the time. Many of the women were beaten, tortured, imprisoned, locked away in mental institutions, divorced, left homeless, and prevented from ever again seeing their children, simply for wanting women to have legal rights as "persons under the law" instead of being mere chattel owned by either father or husband with no rights of their own. And they continued fighting - for decades - in spite of all the pain, suffering and loss, to make way for the kind of society we now take for granted. Could not the women and men of this village have stood together as well? It seems unlikely such a small, remote village - or any other village or town for that matter - would have, or could have stoned to death every woman that refused to allow such an outrage to take place, what with women comprising half the population. The men of the village, and this society as a whole, would be at a complete loss without women to tend to households and care for children. A few of the women might even have had the outright protection of loving husbands, brothers, fathers or sons, if push had come to shove. The corrupt men of such a barbaric, misogynistic system aren't going to willingly give up their power when the system has been engineered so precisely in their favour. A system like this must often be faced down and wrestled out of the hands of the oppressors by those who are being oppressed. Yes, the roots of oppression run exceedingly deep, and the strongest chains that bind us are often the ones in our own indoctrinated, brainwashed minds. But the women themselves (and the men who truly care for them) must rise up and fight if they are ever going to have any hope for freedom, equality, and safety for themselves and their daughters. Those of us in a freer, more modern society can help by becoming aware of atrocities such as these, and signing petitions and writing letters against this and all the other barbaric practices being used in other countries against mostly women and girls, to show support for our fellow sisters, mothers, daughters and friends. Don't see this movie and do nothing. Watch the Special Features for more information on this Iranian director, and this cast of Iranian actors, all willing to stand up against such atrocities.