A Mighty Heart

Director: Michael Winterbottom

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Archie Panjabi, Mohammed Afzal

When dealing with a movie based on a true story, especially a controversial one that received so much media attention, the director has a difficult task; keeping the audience in suspense when they already know the ending. Director Winterbottom does not fall short of this task. From the opening scene until the end credits, A Mighty Heart grips the audience and keeps them at the edge of their seats, hoping for a different ending.

In 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl (Futterman) travelled to Karachi with his six month pregnant wife, Marianne (Jolie), in order to interview Sheikh Gilani, a Pakistani cleric involved with radical Islamic groups. A Mighty Heart follows Marianne and her desperate struggle to find her husband, kidnapped by terrorists, who have mistaken him for a CIA agent pretending to be a journalist.

The film does more than describe the religious ideology and the political and social issues behind Pearl’s murder. It reminds everyone of what journalism should stand for; not diet tips, not celebrity breakdowns and no, not Brangelina updates, but the ability to change the world. This idealism is something Daniel and Marianne firmly believed in, lived by, and even died for.

The movie has been condemned for not being emotional enough. But one has to ask; why the American need for tears? Winterbottom’s refusal to exploit the sentimental part is exactly what enhances the sensitivity of the film and honours Marianne’s views of what happened: “She wasn’t sad, she was furious”. We are left to decide for ourselves how to judge the Pakistani authorities, American investigation officials, as well as the people involved in the abduction. We are not distracted by overblown affection or touchy-feely scenes that are usually associated with such tragic stories. Instead, the audience faces a man who stood up for his beliefs, refusing to deny what he is, and an incredibly strong woman, who has gone to great lengths to support her husband, and refused to be broken by unfortunate events.

The characters are what breathe the heart and soul into the movie. While it is Jolie who justifiably carries the movie and truly deserves the good praise she’s been given, the exceptionally fresh cast certainly does not lag behind. With an almost certain Oscar nomination, A Mighty Heart is definitely one of the best films made this year.

Nika Lukovic