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

Initially, the film was financed by Warner Brothers. After it backed out, Paramount Vantage stepped in.

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Goofs

In the scene when Mariane is going for interview with CNN, the car stops at the signal. The place where they stops is not in Karachi, it is in Rawalpindi, approximately 1500 kilometers away from Karachi.

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Quotes

Captain: [after the two men have just watched a man be tortured] Are you okay?
Randall Bennett: [smiling nervously] Yeah.
Captain: We'll go easy on this next guy. He's a jihadi, spent time in Afghanistan. And he's a police officer.
Randall Bennett: Man, I love this town.

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Connections

Referenced in Locked Up Abroad: India: Hostage to Terror (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Lus Lus Karde Aan"
(p) and (c) V.I.P. / Brian Engel Publishing

User Reviews

A love story with politics surprisingly absent

This is an intimate film. Basically a love story set in the political wreckage after the attack on the World Trade Center. As such, we don't get much detail about the different factions in Pakistan or who is "good" or "bad." It's the story of a couple who find themselves being used by terrorists and whether it is mere coincidence because they are Westerners or whether more specific points are being made because Daniel Pearl is Jewish aren't really explored, a wide variety of explanations are offered. Instead, as a backdrop to the suspense and the couple's relationship, we get a visual poem of life in Islamabad and Karachi, which I found beautiful, fascinating and more than just a little frightening. These are not cities for people with claustrophobia.

With the story beginning the day of Daniel Pearl's kidnapping, his character is fleshed out only through flashback or what others say about him, as well as the devotion of all who search to rescue him. I doubt few will go to this film without knowing the outcome. I suppose some fans of Ms. Jolie might attend and find themselves unaware of the events portrayed in the movie. So Winterbottom has his work cut out for him since most in the audience know the conclusion.

As Mariane Pearl, Angelina Jolie gives a remarkable, restrained performance. Her face is a mask and emotion is communicated almost exclusively through her eyes. It's the gift of a remarkable talent for the screen. I don't know how anyone could have been better. Others in the cast, too, are notable: Archie Panjabi holds her own with Jolie whenever they're together on the screen. It's a particularly complicated role since she becomes the target of the Pakistani press as the reason for Pearl's abduction, and her guilt, bafflement and frustration give the film added suspense. And Irfan Khan, the pivotal Pakistani investigator—in a role that could have been clichéd—brings an urgency to his character that earned my sympathy for succeeding in what must have been an impossible task. The film opens with Mariane Pearl describing Karachi as the World's second largest city and her husband was trying to meet with one man…how impossible it must be to find a single person in such a large place. That proves prophetic as Irfan Kahn then has to find Daniel Pearl.

The growing alarm of the first night of Pearl's abduction is particularly well done by both the director and actors.

I'm a little shocked by others' comment here that the Pearl's shouldn't have been "doing what they were doing" or because they put themselves in a dangerous situation we should somehow feel less sympathetic. I'm ashamed that such comments could be made in the face of this tragedy.