From Paralyzed Husband to Forbidden Romance: The Patience Stone Movie Explained
Hello there, Musitrature Recaps here! Today, we’re discussing a captivating movie called “The Patience Stone.” Set in war-torn Afghanistan, we meet a devoted 30-year-old woman caring for her paralyzed husband, whose condition is a result of a gunshot wound. Despite the turmoil outside, she remains steadfastly by his side, praying to Allah for his recovery. In her tender care, she holds his hand and implores him to respond, believing he can hear her.
As days pass, hope begins to wane, and she becomes disheartened as her husband remains unresponsive. The doctor’s promise of recovery within weeks has not materialized even after sixteen long days. Nevertheless, her two daughters bring moments of distraction, seeking food and water in their struggling household. Determined, she steps outside with her daughters, inquiring about the water Peddler and making her way to the pharmacy.
As the family leaves their home, armed militants pass by, engaging in gunfire with the enemy. The locals are accustomed to living amidst the chaos of explosions and gunshots, showing no fear. The woman heads to the pharmacy, desperately asking for medicine to keep her husband alive. Sadly, the seller refuses to help, citing her lack of money and owed debts. With no means to earn money, she returns home and improvises, providing her husband with a dropper of salty-sweet water to ease his hunger.
Despite her husband’s silence, the woman continually seeks his permission for simple errands like going to the store or visiting her aunt. Realizing he won’t respond, she heads to her aunt’s house, the only remaining relative who hasn’t fled the city due to the constant dangers. Unfortunately, an unfamiliar woman answers the door, not knowing the whereabouts of her aunt, leaving the woman feeling utterly alone.
Back home, she shares the heartache with her husband, recounting how his brothers and mother had already left the city, failing to inform her and their daughters. This abandonment wounds her deeply, especially since she knows why her husband ended up with a gunshot wound in his neck, leaving him paralyzed. It was a shocking betrayal when, 16 days ago, he encountered a comrade from the same homeland, who shot him in the back after losing a fair fight – despite his years of fighting against the enemies.
With a deep realization that only Allah is her solace, the woman continues to pray fervently, seeking divine help for her sick husband. She cannot bear the thought of him leaving her and the idea of being a single mother is unimaginable. Her young daughters, afraid of the darkness, manage to distract her momentarily from her conversation with her husband. Since there’s no electricity or water in the house, the mother takes care of her girls and lights a kerosene lamp to provide some comfort. The little ones are unaware of their father’s condition and think he’s upset with them. The mother reassures them, promising that everything will be alright.
The following morning, a doctor arrives to examine the wounded man. The woman, feeling unclean due to her menstrual cycle, refuses to let the doctor into the house. He understands and asks her to pray for her husband, promising to return in a few days. As she tends to her husband’s body, she notices that his wound isn’t healing; the bullet remains lodged in his neck, leaving her feeling helpless and unsure of how to restore his former life.
Moments later, a citywide announcement calls people to gather at the mosque to obtain weapons and defend their city. Realizing impending attacks, the woman becomes frightened as the first explosion shakes the surroundings. Urgently, she rushes into the basement, bringing her two daughters along. Neighbors join her in the shelter, but they can’t bring the wheelchair-bound man inside. In the basement, they listen to the radio, waiting for the missile attack to cease before daring to go outside. When the explosions finally subside, the woman hurries to her husband’s bedroom, praying to find him still alive.
As the neighbors hurriedly take the disabled man to the basement to protect him from more explosions, the woman tends to her husband, putting drops in his eyes. Outside, tanks and armed enemies approach, firing indiscriminately to inflict maximum damage on the city. Realizing the danger, the woman rushes back to the basement, reuniting with her frightened daughters.
A few hours later, she returns to the house, cleaning up the aftermath of the shelling and sealing the shattered window. Knowing it’s not over, she stays cautious and returns to the girls in the basement. Meanwhile, fighters enter the house and come across the motionless man. They rob him, taking his watch and wedding ring, then proceed to search the other rooms. Finding no one else in the house and assuming the man is dead, they notice the Quran nearby, realizing he’s like them. They leave him undisturbed and calmly exit the house.
Later, the woman returns to her home and discovers the search and theft of some items. However, the worst discovery is made at the neighbor’s house, where the men have been brutally killed and left hanging in the yard. Fearing for her family’s safety, she decides to collect her belongings and take her daughters to her aunt’s place.
At her aunt’s place, an unknown person initially denies her entry, but the woman insists and is eventually given the new address. Her aunt now lives in a hotel for easily accessible girls and women. The woman leaves her children in her aunt’s care, learning about her aunt’s tragic past, where she was forced into servitude due to infertility until she gained her freedom by drastic means. After leaving her children with her aunt, the woman returns to her husband, unable to abandon him in his dire condition.
At the same time, she comes to understand why her husband’s relatives left. Like his brothers, he knew about the approaching war and the danger their house faced. The woman reproaches her husband for not informing her and the children about the impending threat. She decides to admit that she is unhappy in their marriage. Throughout the 10 years of being married, she hardly saw her husband, who was adored by his brothers. If he had died, she could have become the wife of one of his brothers and would have been safe, but that didn’t happen. She is even more hurt by the fact that her husband never paid attention to her. In her view, she married a photograph and a blade, not him as a person. Her mother-in-law controlled her so much that she even had to sleep with her to ensure she remained faithful while her husband was at war.
The woman doesn’t understand why she’s telling all this to her husband, but she feels like he hears her and continues reminiscing. Her parents served as her only example of family life, but she can’t call it a good one. Her father was obsessed with quails, spending hours stroking them and arranging quail fights with bets involved. He was a terrible head of the family, often raising his hand to his wife and daughters. In a desperate attempt to repay his debts after losing money on expensive quails, he gave his eldest daughter, a 12-year-old, in marriage to the man he owed. Fearing that she might face the same fate, the woman, as a child, took a quail and fed it to the cat, resulting in scars on her face.
Feeling oppressed and burdened with these memories, the woman decides not to share anything else with her husband and seeks refuge at her aunt’s place. There, she confesses that she can’t stop talking and reveals the terrible secrets that have haunted her.
A relative tells the woman that a paralyzed person unconsciously becomes a magical stone of patience to whom everything can be told. Legend has it that the stone can withstand anything, but one day it will break into thousands of small pieces, turning its owner into a prophet of Allah. Realizing that her husband has not died for three weeks, the woman sees him as her Patience Stone, someone she can confide in.
Upon returning home, the woman washes her husband and kisses him for the first time in 10 years of marriage. This brings back memories of their wedding night when she couldn’t get pregnant. Her mother-in-law treated her badly, forcing her to commit a bad deed that she still can’t talk about. Soon, she hears strange sounds, only to discover that the neighbors are burying their relatives.
With no money for her husband’s treatment, she refuses to let the doctor in and leaves. But she returns quickly, fearing that the city’s soldiers might harm her paralyzed husband. She hides him in a niche, covering him with curtains and a pillow.
A few minutes later, the commander of the Detachment and a stuttering soldier arrive at the house. Fearing that they might take advantage of her, the woman pretends that she is willing to sell her body. The Muslim commander finds this low and disgusting, insulting her and spitting in her face. Unbeknownst to him, she holds a knife behind her back, ready to defend herself and her husband if needed.
At night, the woman lies down next to her husband, promising to reveal all her secrets. In the morning, she hears someone approaching and quickly hides her husband behind a screen. It turns out to be the stuttering soldier who has returned. He is young and inexperienced with women, willing to pay generously for some intimate time. The woman tries to resist, but the soldier insists, throwing money on the floor, and they end up being intimate. Feeling ashamed and embarrassed, the woman cries and tries to wash away the shame in the bathroom.
The next morning, she decides to use the money she earned to buy food and medicine for her husband. Back at home, she takes care of him, sets up a drip, and goes outside to do laundry. The soldier visits again, willing to pay for another short encounter with her. Afterward, she confesses to her husband, knowing he would have killed her for such a confession in the past. She reproaches him, expressing her dissatisfaction with their intimate life, praising the soldier’s performance, even though their meetings last only a minute.
At some point, the woman realizes the inappropriateness of her words and seeks solace in the Quran to repent for her sins. The next morning, she notices that someone has repaired the fence. To her surprise, it was the young soldier, who dreams of spending another minute with her. The soldier’s body bears cigarette burns, a result of bullying by the commander. Witnessing his suffering, the woman sympathizes with the young soldier, offering him a genuine hug and understanding the pain he endures as an involuntary soldier and an orphan.
Later, she hears an announcement around town about the legend of how people become Prophets. She discusses this with her aunt and realizes that no one is born a prophet and that they, too, have shortcomings.
Upon her return, the woman discovers fruit and a gold chain given to her by the soldier she’s in love with. Only with him does she feel like a true woman and find happiness. As she tries to show affection to her husband, she realizes that her actions are deceitful and sinful. Unable to hide the truth any longer, she decides to reveal the main secret. During her pregnancy, she attempted multiple times to get rid of the child. At birth, she even tried to strangle the baby girl with her own feet, but she couldn’t go through with it. The reason behind this desperate act was her husband’s infertility, a fact she kept hidden. Fearful of losing her marriage and becoming insignificant, the woman sought help from her aunt’s owner, posing him as a healer to whom her mother-in-law paid money. In reality, she engaged in relationships with men, desperate to conceive. As a result, both of her daughters are not her husband’s, and she remains unaware of their fathers’ identities. Upon hearing this dreadful truth, her husband awakens from his coma and attempts to strangle her. In self-defense, she kills him with a knife, believing that she has become a prophetess. The young soldier, who visits the woman at an unfortunate moment, becomes a witness to the dramatic events, and here the movie concludes.
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