The Patience Stone

"She achieved her independence by telling stories filled with forbidden secrets"

2013 1h 42m FR

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 116

DramaWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In a war-ridden country, a woman watches over her husband, comatose from a bullet in the neck and abandoned by Jihad companions and brothers. One day, the woman decides to say things to him she could never have done before.

“She achieved her independence by telling stories filled with forbidden secrets”

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Cast

Golshifteh Farahani
The woman
Hamid Djavadan
The man
Hassina Burgan
The aunt
Massi Mrowat
The young soldier
Mohamed Al Maghraoui
The mullah
Malak Djaham Khazal
The neighbor
Faiz Fazil
Armed man
Hatim Seddiki
Soldier 1

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Atiq Rahimi
Writers: Jean-Claude Carrière, Atiq Rahimi
Languages: Persian
Countries: Germany, France, Afghanistan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 13 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Germany, France, Afghanistan.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Atiq Rahimi, shot by Thierry Arbogast. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Max Richter. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Hervé de Luze shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Golshifteh Farahani and Hamid Djavadan and Hassina Burgan carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "She achieved her independence by telling stories filled with forbidden secrets".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt1638353 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Atiq Rahimi directs. Thierry Arbogast behind the camera. Max Richter scores. Hervé de Luze cuts. Produced in Germany, France, Afghanistan. Dialogue in Persian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 13 years ago.
2International production across 3 countries: Germany, France, Afghanistan.
3Directed by Atiq Rahimi, shot by Thierry Arbogast. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Max Richter. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Hervé de Luze shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Golshifteh Farahani and Hamid Djavadan and Hassina Burgan carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "She achieved her independence by telling stories filled with forbidden secrets".
8IMDB entry: tt1638353 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Thierry Arbogast
Original score: Max Richter
Editing: Hervé de Luze
Production design: Erwin Prib
Costume design: Malek Jahan Khazai
Sound: Lars Ginzel
Runtime: 102 min · 1h 42m
Status: Released
Box office: $148,671
Original language: FR
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Patience Stone (2013)

Also by

Atiq Rahimi

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-07-08
★ 7/10
In a war-torn Muslim nation (that we can presume is Afghanistan) we are introduced to a young woman (Golshifteh Farahani) who is trying to look after her two young daughters whilst their father is lying lifeless on a mattress with a bullet hole in his neck. His colleagues have long deserted them and so she must try - with the help of a nearby aunt (Hassina Burgan) - to keep her family safe whilst nursing her husband as best she can. There are militia everywhere and with him paralysed on the floor, she has to find ingenious ways to try and hide him from their murderous hands. As the days pass, she begins to talk to the man (and us) and that provides for much of the fairly traumatic backstory that sees her exposed to brutality, indifference and negligence since childhood. She also has an encounter with the local commander whom she convinces she is an whore. He is disgusted but seems to have mentioned this to his men as a nervous young man (Massi Mrowat) appears on the doorstep ostensibly just looking to pay for sex but actually he is in need of a great deal more. Vulnerabilities are rife amidst the chaos of war. Gradually, her memories become more descriptive, more explicit and by the conclusion we know much more about her than perhaps she had realised. Is he listening, though? It's most unusual to have an incapacitated man, on death's door, serving as a conduit for a story like this but it works effectively. She tells us a story riddled with persecution - physically and intellectually and once she has opened the floodgates, her resentment pours out. It's not a rant, there's not really that much rancour. It is a measured and rational evaluation of her life and of her treatment by those she loved and who were supposed to care for her in return. It invites us to critique the austerity of her faith, and of her sex's role within that framework, without telling us exactly what to think. Any judgements here are ours. It can get a little repetitive at times but Faharani exudes a sense of intensity that does make this quite a poignant watch.

Production companies