The Patience Stone (2012) Syngué sabour, pierre de patience

Director: Atiq Rahimi
Writers: Jean-Claude Carrière (scenario), Atiq Rahimi (scenario)
Stars: Golshifteh Farahani, Hamid Djavadan, Hassina Burgan

Somewhere, in Afghanistan or elsewhere, in a country torn apart by a war… A young woman in her thirties watches over her older husband in a decrepit room. He is reduced to the state of a vegetable because of a bullet in the neck. Not only is he abandoned by his companions of the Jihad, but also by his brothers. One day, the woman decides to tell the truth to him about her feelings about their relationship to her silent husband. She talks about her childhood, her suffering, her frustrations, her loneliness, her dreams, her desires…

She says things she could never have done before, even though they have been married for the past 10 years. Therefore, this paralyzed man unconsciously becomes syngue sabour, a magic stone which, according to Persian mythology, when placed in front of a person shields her from unhappiness, suffering, pains and miseries. In this wait for her husband to come back to life, the woman struggles to survive and live. She finds refuge in her aunt's place, who is a prostitute, and the only relative who understands her. The woman seeks to free herself from suffering through the words she delivers audaciously to her husband. But after weeks looking after him, she will actually reveal herself in the relationship she starts with a young soldier…

One of those very rare masterpieces that come as sheer satisfactions after years of wait! The whole movie reveals itself with a poetic subtleness of sorts… The innocence, the earthly beauty and the strength that Farahani's character in the film demanded are so exquisitely conveyed by her. There is a 'Halo' that surrounds Farahani's character throughout. The metaphorical references used to convey the broader meaning of the plot are simply magical in their appeal.

The complexity of human relations and how at times they become so dependent on our social hierarchies and cultural structures, that its almost a magic to sanely come out of those. From the time the film opens, the gravity of the characters pull you deep into the film and are very difficult to let go of, even long after the movie ends..!! Persian and Afghan cinema has always that 'literary' kind of capacity which broadens ones perspectives, however this one is at a whole new level. Such work is a rarity in most of the other modern Asian cinema.. Its quite amazing that this insightful art work come from one of the most politically disturbed places of our world..

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