A Mighty Heart (2007)

Mariane Pearl embarks on a frantic search to locate her journalist husband, Daniel, when he goes missing in Pakistan.

Director:

Michael Winterbottom

Writers:

John Orloff (screenplay), Mariane Pearl (book)

Stars:

Dan Futterman, Angelina Jolie, Archie Panjabi

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dan Futterman	...	Daniel 'Danny' Pearl
Angelina Jolie	...	Mariane Pearl
Archie Panjabi	...	Asra
Mohammed Afzal	...	Shabbir
Mushtaq Khan	...	Danny's Taxi Driver (as Mushtaq Ahmed)
Daud Khan	...	Masud the Fixer
Telal Saeed	...	Kaleem Yusuf
Arif Khan	...	Mariane's Taxi Driver
Tipu Taheer	...	Human Rights Director
Amit Dhawan	...	Technical Supervisor
Saira Nasir Khan	...	Nasrin
Aliya Khan	...	Kashva
Sarah Mone	...	Female Guest
Bushra Parwani	...	Female Guest
Zafar Karachiwala	...	Male Guest

Storyline

On January 23, 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is to fly from Karachi to Dubai with his pregnant wife, Mariane, also a reporter. On the day before, with great care, he has arranged an interview in a café with an Islamic fundamentalist cleric. When Danny doesn't return, Mariane initiates a search. Pakistani police, American embassy personnel, and the FBI examine witnesses, phone records, e-mails, and hard drives. Who has him? Where is he? There's also the why: because of U.S. abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo, because of a history of Journal cooperation with the CIA, because Pearl is a Jew? Through it all, Mariane is clearheaded, direct, and determined.

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Plot Keywords:

journalist | reporter | pakistan | interview | fbi | 

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Taglines:

It was an event that shocked the world. This is the story you haven't heard.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | Thriller | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [br] Official site [jp]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English French Urdu Arabic

Release Date:

22 June 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Un coeur invaincu

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£153,028 (UK) (21 September 2007)

Gross:

£153,028 (UK) (21 September 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Vantage, Plan B Entertainment, Revolution Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After Angelina Jolie was cast as Mariane Pearl, she and the filmmakers came in for a great deal of criticism, since Pearl's and Jolie's racial backgrounds are not similar, and Jolie played the role wearing makeup that somewhat darkened her own skin tone. The casting reminded many critics of the time in Hollywood when it was customary to cast "ethnic" roles with white actors in makeup rather than using black, Asian, or Native American actors. During a promotional press event for the movie, Jolie responded to the criticisms by saying, "the idea is, if you ask Marianne, because she did address that... if you did actually want to find somebody that was her exact makeup, she's actually majority Dutch, and she's as black as she is Chinese, and she's Cuban, and she's French. So, it could have gone to many different racial backgrounds, probably, if you went technical on it." Pearl herself approved of casting Jolie; in Time Magazine, Pearl said, "I have heard some criticism about her casting, but it is not about the color of your skin. It is about who you are. I asked her to play the role - even though she is way more beautiful than I am - because I felt a real kinship to her."

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Goofs

There are a number of computers and gadgets shown, which were not introduced in early 2002, i.e. HP LaseJet 1320 Printer at Asra's place, HP Color Laserjet shown at the consulate, Acer Notebook used in investigation, and the Nokia 1100 cellphone used by Captain.

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Quotes

Mariane Pearl: [looking at a picture of her husband smiling while having a gun to his head] He says "fuck you" to them.

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Connections

Featured in 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Man"
(p) and (c) Saregama India Ltd
Courtesy of Saregama India Ltd

User Reviews

Powerful yet human

This is one of the more intelligent and well constructed movies of 2007 thus far. Touching on the human element as it collides with the unpleasant realities of hot-bed issues including politics and religion, the brutality and evil this story depicts is at times difficult to watch.

Difficult to watch because the content is disturbing, which is the intent of the film. We see a very human dimension to the real life characters who are depicted sensitively, making the grotesque outcome all the more horrifying. The story is fair to the innocent parties involved, and honest in rightfully assigning the blame to those responsible for these heinous acts. Dramatically and artistically, this is a superior movie.

Angelina Jolie's portrayal of Mariane Pearl feels sincere, but she appears miscast. Little dimension is brought to her real-life subject, a woman inexorably thrust into the limelight amidst painful circumstances. The film would have been better off with another actress in this challenging role.

Still, the movie is outstanding, and worthy of your time.