2015/12/11

Day 272: The Patience Stone (December, 6)

The main reason why the blog is so behind the schedule is how hard is for me to write about The Patience Stone (Syngué Sabour). It is difficult to see such a movie, but write about it is even worse. This film is so accurate about the extreme violence people suffers on a war, especially women and in countries ravaged by war and religious intolerance, that it is hard even to breath. Talk about it is not an easy task.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that it is a story by Jean-Claude Carrière, one of the main references on my master studies. And I would have known better than to expect any less of him. He is brilliant, and he proves it once more in this movie.

The cinematography is beautiful, heartbreaking. Golshifté Faharani had not an easy quest in front of her, and she conveys so much. She is mostly alone on the screen, and there's no need for no one else. She brings all the women in the world in herself (especially those in Islamic more repressive cultures.

It is astounding. The characters has no name, we don't know what city is that. There's no need, because the violence we see on the screen is universal and timeless. Unfortunately.  It is the story of all the continuous repression over women and young people. It is so anguishing in its accuracy, I didn't know what to do other than keep my eyes glued to the screen, overwhelmed by what I was seeing. There's no relief in this story, except for one, which, despite being in fact hopeful, is not much considering all the pain, horror, injustice, violence. However, the resilient fight for survival is also universal, and we can remember that during all the protagonist's struggles in order to stay alive and protect her daughters.

The Patience Stone (Syngué sabour). Directed by Atiq Rahimi. With:
Golshifteh Farahani, Hamid Djavadan, Hassina Burgan. Writers: Jean-Claude
Carrière, Atiq Rahimi from the book by Atiq Rahimi. Afghanistan/
France/Germany/UK, 2012, 102 min., Dolby Digital, Color (Cable TV).

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