Last year, there was much discussion and debate about United 93 and World Trade Center, two movies that depicted the 9/11 attacks in very different ways. The former film was shot in a very naturalistic, almost documentary-like style, all the parts were played by essentially anonymous actors (or, in some cases, by the real-life people who had lived through that event), and the film ended on a sobering, ambiguous note. The latter film, on the other hand, was a more classically “Hollywood” kind of movie: major movie stars, expensive special effects, and an uplifting message.
Those two aesthetic approaches are essentially fused, with mixed results, in A Mighty Heart. The film is based on the book by Mariane Pearl—whose husband Daniel, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was abducted and murdered in Pakistan less than five months after 9/11—and it is directed by Michael Winterbottom, who has blurred the line between drama and documentary in films like In This World and The Road to Guantanamo. Winterbottom’s films are often shot in a gritty, realistic fashion, and A Mighty Heart, much of which was shot on location in Pakistan, is no exception.
But this is still a Hollywood film, and how you respond to it will ultimately hinge on how you respond to the performance of its star, Angelina Jolie—and you never quite forget that it is a performance. Jolie has darkened her skin and put on a wig to simulate Mariane Pearl’s multi-ethnic appearance (Pearl is part Dutch, part Chinese, and part Afro-Cuban), and she does a decent job of mimicking Mariane’s Parisian accent. But no matter how deglamorized she tries to be, Jolie remains Jolie, and the sheer star power that she brings to the part keeps you at a bit of a distance.
Fortunately, her performance does have its merits. In the film’s early scenes, we see how cozy Mariane and Daniel (Dan Futterman) were with each other, even to the point that Mariane, despite being several months pregnant, sat in on the interviews that Daniel did with his sources. When Daniel goes missing, Mariane goes outside to cry, and on her way back into the house, she sees the housekeeper’s young son and smiles at him—a smile that is as genuine as it is brave.
Daniel’s disappearance brings out some of the contradictions in Pakistani politics and culture. Every foreigner—including the Pearls and their Indian-American colleague, Asra Nomani (Bend It Like Beckham‘s Archie Panjabi)—is accused of being a spy at some point, and one Pakistani official declares, unhelpfully, that Daniel’s abduction was itself the work of Indian agents. On the other hand, the investigation is led by a Pakistani officer, called simply Captain (The Namesake‘s Irfan Khan), who comes across as thoughtful and sensitive—at least to the Westerners he’s helping. To his own people, however, he can be a bit more rough—ironically doing things no American would tolerate, and all in the name of protecting Pakistan’s reputation!
Winterbottom’s last film was about prison conditions in Guantanamo Bay, so it comes as no surprise that several scenes in this film bring those issues to the fore. The point is made a few times that the treatment of detainees in Gitmo is a key item on the kidnappers’ list of grievances, and one of the American officials, named Randall Bennett (Will Patton), seems almost unnervingly excited at the prospect of getting a “front-row seat” when the Pakistani police interrogate their own suspects.
The film does suggest, however unintentionally, that the harsh methods work, since they do play a part in tracking down Daniel’s kidnappers. But the film also raises interesting questions about proportionality. Is Daniel’s life worth more than that of all the other people who have been kidnapped in Karachi? It might seem that way, since the authorities pour a lot of effort into rounding up suspects and diverting resources to Mariane’s house; at one point, she learns that the extra phone lines that have been installed, for the agents and colleagues stationed at her home, were put there at the expense of her neighbors, whose own telephones are now cut off.
There are moments of humor, too, particularly when Mariane’s male colleagues—including Daniel’s boss, John Bussey (Denis O’Hare)—begin reading books on pregnancy and breast-feeding and discuss ways to get her to eat more, for the baby.
Children are, indeed, a recurring motif: Daniel, eager to see the birth of his son, asks a cab driver about his own children; and when one Islamist is apprehended by the police, he makes a thinly veiled threat against the Captain’s own baby. The innocence of children and the universality of parenthood can bring us together, the film suggests—but the vulnerability of children can also drive us apart.
Ultimately, however, the show comes back to Mariane—or, rather, to Jolie, and her performance falters at the precise moment when it should matter most, when Mariane discovers that her husband is dead. The primal screams that follow last so long, you become aware of the actress, rather than the character, and I for one was unfortunately reminded of Jolie’s shrieking fit in 2004’s Alexander—a problem that other viewers might not have, since virtually no one saw Oliver Stone’s ancient epic.
Of course, once you become aware of the actress, you become aware of all the other baggage she brings to the role, especially when she has been more famous for her personal life than for her movie roles of late. (Boyfriend Brad Pitt is one of this film’s producers.) Does the title A Mighty Heart refer to Daniel, as the book’s subtitle (“The Brave Life and Death of My Husband”) implies? Or does it refer to Mariane, who gets far more screen time, and through her, perhaps, to Jolie? Such are the questions that arise when movies tackle memoirs, and when celebrity tackles real life.
Talk About It
Discussion starters- In one flashback, Daniel looks at Mariane’s pregnant belly and says, “Amazing you can love someone you’ve never met.” What is the larger significance of this statement? How widely should this “love” be applied? In what ways should it be applied? Is it ever wrong to “love” someone before you have met them?
- Why does this film focus on children so much? In what ways do children bring us together? In what ways do children and family distinctions keep us apart?
- Daniel openly admits that he is Jewish, even when people tell him it would be safer to keep this hidden. Have you ever been told to hide something, such as your faith? How have you responded? Would you have been as open as Daniel?
The Family Corner
For parents to considerA Mighty Heart is rated R for language, including a few dozen four-letter words. Guns are fired during the apprehension of some suspects, and one person is interrogated onscreen. The more extreme violence, including the fact that Daniel Pearl was beheaded and his body cut into ten pieces, is referred to but not shown. Mariane is seen making Buddhist prayers, and her wedding ceremony with Daniel, seen in a flashback, combines aspects of the Buddhist and Jewish tradition.
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