Information about A Mighty Heart (film)

A Mighty Heart
Promotional movie poster for the film
Directed by	Michael Winterbottom
Produced by	Brad Pitt Andrew Eaton Dede Gardner
Written by	Mariane Pearl (memoir) Sara Crichton (story) John Orloff (screenplay)
Starring	Angelina Jolie Dan Futterman Will Patton
Cinematography	Marcel Zyskind
Editing by	Peter Christelis
Distributed by	Paramount Vantage
Release date(s)	2007
Country	USA
Language	English
Official website
IMDb profile

A Mighty Heart is a 2007 film adaptation of Mariane Pearl's memoir, A Mighty Heart.^[1][2]

Story

A Mighty Heart is a detailed account of the search for kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter^[3] Daniel Pearl in 2002.

Pearl was kidnapped in Karachi by supporters of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who claimed responsibility (and were later captured and convicted) for kidnapping and beheading Pearl in 2002. The movie also covers efforts by Department of Justice and Diplomatic Security Service special agents to track the kidnappers and bring them to justice.

For security reasons, the majority of the film, including all scenes with Angelina Jolie was shot in Pune, Maharashtra, India rather than in Pakistan. However many of the exteriors and all scenes involving the kidnapping, were shot at the real locations in Karachi with actor Dan Futterman. The film's other Indian location was Mumbai, where Danny and Marianne lived. Flashback scenes were shot there. The film was also shot in France and Austin, Texas.

Released in North America on June 22, 2007,^[3] the film has been reviewed by, among others, Variety,^[4] Rolling Stone,^[5] Salon.com,<ref name="O'Hehir"> Andrew O'Hehir (21 May 2007). Beyond the Multiplex (html). Salon.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-16. “Jolie's performance is restrained and dignified, and with her hair in Mediterranean curls, she actually bears a strong resemblance to Pearl, a Parisian woman of mixed racial heritage. (Winterbottom has observed that trying to find an actress who was half Dutch, a quarter Cuban and a quarter Chinese was not realistic.) Hollywood Reporter,^[3] and Entertainment Weekly.^[7]

The film is R rated.

Cast

Actor	Role
Angelina Jolie	Mariane Pearl
Dan Futterman	Daniel Pearl
Will Patton	Randall Bennett
Archie Panjabi	Asra Nomani
Azfar Ali	Nomani's Boyfriend
Jillian Armenante	Maureen Platt
Zachary Coffin	Matt MacDowell
Demetri Goritsas	John Skelton
Sajid Hasan	Zubair
Irfan Khan	Captain
Mikail Lotia	Hasan
Denis O'Hare	Bussey
Adnan Siddiqui
Aly Khan

Production

There have been some incidents involving the film's security detail and local residents of Pune. In one incident, an Associated Press photographer was allegedly assaulted by bodyguards and threatened with a gun. In another, a security guard allegedly grabbed a photographer by the throat outside of the hotel where Jolie and Pitt were staying. The most recent incident occurred in November 2006, at a school where bodyguards are accused of verbally abusing and assaulting parents who were picking up their children. Paparazzi may have provoked the incident.^[8]

Criticism

The film, despite of having generally good reviews, failed to generate any worthwhile enthusiasm among the movie-going public upon its release and was box office flop, barely grossing $10 million from worldwide total sales, which is well below the $16 million production costs. [1].

Asra Nomani, a colleague^[9] of Daniel Pearl who had agreed to participate in the film, stated that the film failed to portray Pearl in favor of creating a dramatic arc of "ordinary heroes," in reaction to which she believes Pearl would have "rolled his eyes." She described her reaction: "For me, watching the movie was like having people enter my home, rearrange the furniture and reprogram my memory."

Although the film has received positive reviews in the white media, many members of the black community were against the film. Pop culture critic Orville Lloyd Douglas has criticized the casting^[10] of Angelina Jolie in the role of Mariane Pearl because, he said, "Jolie is white" and Mariane Pearl is "bi-racial." Douglas asserted that "there was an uproar by the African American community," that Pearl has an "ambivalence about her black heritage," and that although the real Mariane Pearl is not dark skinned, Jolie's portrayal is blackface and an example of Hollywood discrimination against black actresses. Douglas' viewpoint is that blackface's "symbolism" manifests itself when a white actor darkens his or her skin and wears a wig in order to appear black. Douglas also argues that defenders of Mariane Pearl ignore the internal racism and self-loathing some biracial people have about their black heritage. In North America, Pearl is viewed as a black woman despite what some see as her attempts to embrace whiteness and distance herself from her black heritage. Douglas argues Pearl will never be viewed as white in North America because of her darker skin and curly kinky hair.

Awards and Praise

A Mighty Heart received the Truly Moving Picture Award , as a film that "can move you to laughter, to tears, to make a difference" and offers "heartfelt visions of life that are as hopeful as they are entertaining." Source: Heartland Truly Moving Pictures. The film was also nominated for a Teen Choice Award for Best Movie Actress: Drama for Jolie's performance but lost to Jennifer Hudson of Dreamgirls. The film in general has received tremendously rave reviews from the likes of Roger Ebert and Larry King, especially in reaction to Angelina Jolie's leading role.

References

External links

• A Mighty Heart (Also known as Un Coeur Invaincu) at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Times Film Review: A Mighty Heart
• Behind the Scenes Footage during various film shoots of A Mighty Heart
• Angelina Jolie talks about the challenges of playing Mariane Pearl at MSNBC.com
• Review of A Mighty Heart along with trailer