THE PATIENCE STONE – The Review

Somewhere in an unnamed Afghanistan village torn apart by a war, a beautiful unnamed woman (Golshifteh Farahani) watches over her older soldier husband (Hamid Djavadan) in a decrepit room while Taliban-like gangs roam the streets. He is reduced to a vegetative state of because of a bullet in his neck sustained not through battle, but in a barroom brawl over an insult. One day, she begins a solitary confession to this silent man. She talks (and talks and talks) about her childhood, her suffering, her frustrations, her loneliness, and her dreams. She touches him, bathes him, kisses him – things she could never have done before, even though they have been married for 10 years. The paralyzed man becomes the title ‘patience stone’ which, according to myth, when placed in front of a person shields him or her from suffering and unhappiness. In this wait for her husband to come back to life, she struggles to survive and live. She finds refuge for her two daughters in her prostitute aunt’s home. Weeks pass, she enters into a relationship with a stuttering young soldier , and finally reveals some shocking secrets she had kept locked up deep inside ever since the day she was married.

With THE PATIENCE STONE, Afghan author Atiq Rahimi’s has adapted his own bestselling novel and directed the film version. Much of the film is a long monologue and the one-sided therapy sessions between this woman and her silent husband may become tiresome to most viewers. Rahimi directs in an economical, straight-forward manner with little visual style – it’s simply not very cinematic, making his movie seem like a filmed play, and the story never evolves past its basic set-up in a satisfying way. Those expecting a feminist statement about the oppression and denigration many Muslim women endure may be disappointed as so much of what she talks about has to do with her own sexuality. Her husband is a jerk who’s treated her like crap so her devotion to him is never explained and I was left wanting more details about her life. I wanted to like this little movie more but there is so much about it that doesn’t quite seem flushed out. The huge revelations and violent ending might have been shocking for some, but I found it trite and unbelievable, as though the director/author didn’t know how to conclude, so came up with this horror-movie climax as a convenient way to wrap it up.

The films strongest asset is Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani (exiled by her country for posing for provocative photos and not wearing a hijab when she walked the red carpets in Hollywood to promote BODY OF LIES in which she costarred with Leo DeCaprio) who is terrific, transcending the mediocre movie around her. THE PATIENCE STONE has an interesting premise and I found a few parts of it to be moving and an interesting  look into the daily life of people in Afghanistan. The film manages to generate some suspense, but unfortunately too much clunky writing (and, perhaps, translation) and slow stretches get in the way.

2 1/2 of 5 Stars

THE PATIENCE STONE open in St. Louis October 4th exclusively at Landmark’s Tivoli Theater

One of the photos that got Golshifteh Farahani in trouble