The Patience Stone

The Patience Stone is based on an old Persian fable about a stone to whom one can confide all one's problems and worries. Here though the stone is an Afghan man, reduced to a vegetable state by the war. His wife (Golshifteh Farahani) uses his inability to comprehend and talk back to tell him things that she would not dare to say otherwise. With his disability she's been left to feed herself, her two children and continue buying medicine to keep her husband alive. The only job available for an Afghan woman in her desperate situation it seems is prostitution.

Atiq Rahimi has directed from his own novel. He wrote the script with the renowned veteran screen writer Jean-Claude Carrierre. It is, I feel, a story best suited to theatre with its long monologues. The film however, belongs to and is carried by Golshifteh Farahani's magnificent performance. This is a very tough role where she has to, for most part, talk to a body lying motionless and unresponsive on the ground, unable to engage in any dialogue. A poetic film which is not for all tastes but which will richly reward those who appreciate its form and messages.

For people form middle east it would be good to know that women are as human as men. For the rest of the world its good to know that human feeling exist the same way even under hijab! The most impressive line is "those who don't know to make love, make war". Golshifteh is a pioneer in breaking the control freak nature of middle eastern culture which I believe is the main factor that underlies sexual complexes and subsequent dysfunction in the layers of society. She, aware or not, is the first person who is putting an end to this. The picture and landscaping is realistic and the motion of the lens is so touchable in alternative induction of life threatening vigilance and peaceful love making moments. Filmography explains the culture for non-afghan viewers pretty digestible.

Became an instant favorite. It does not matter what country this takes place in, and that it's never named. Often the enemy is easily indistinct.

Those little girls were precious, running in the street, in the cellar wile bombs are going off. Been there. Been around men like that too.

Loved the colors of Golshifteh Farahani's clothes, and the way they billowed magnificently about her. One of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. Her spirit shines through.

The sex, better said as rape, is more spoken and little shown.There is one frame of Eros though, love making, you'd see in a Fine Arts Museum.

The issue of child brides is a theme, and these girls are given away like chattel. They do not choose this.

Those who do not know how to make love, make war, and that is not just the kind with guns. 10/10

A story of pain, resilience, loyalty and terrible choices which those of never (yet) subjected to the everyday horrors of war on our own doorstep have had to face. Brilliant story, well portrayed in subtle terms. No high drama which made it all the more poignant and human. Not one for the wham bang brigade, more one for the thoughtful watcher. Exquisitely shot: colours, set ups, scenes - everything was admirable. Unlike any film I have seen before. Brings home the pity of war, the damage it does to ordinary lives. Brilliant performances from everyone. See it. Remember it. Learn from it - in every way, as a human and as a film-maker.

Universities across the world put forward that humans choose their own partner and marriage, and that everyone is the same as a Western person. Yet we know that this isn't the case.

This film presents the life of an Afghan woman, who is in an arranged marriage, and if he dies, she will simply be married off to one of his brothers. It's an environment where there is no love between husband and wife. The film gives a rare presentation of the lives of women in the non-Western world. It's probably the best film I've seen to do this. Actress Golshifteh Farahani does a great job of presenting the material in a warm and likable fashion.

It's worth watching and thinking about. A little slow, but very well made, scripted and acted. Very watchable.

If you're interested in what life is like for non-Western women, it's definitely worth seeing.