| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 09/23/2007 : 20:05:30
A Mighty Heart
At last! An adult movie which relies on moment-by-moment honesty to portray the true story [as documented in the book of journalist Mariane Pearl] of the immediate effects of the kidnapping and subsequent beheading of her husband Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journalist reporting on the complexity of Pakistan's role in the political and military conflicts of the middle east after 9/11.
Produced by Brad Pitt, who originally bought the book as a vehicle for his then wife Jennifer Aniston, the film would be worth seeing alone for the remarkable performance by the present Mrs Pitt, Angelina Jolie. It's a testing role - particularly since director Michael Winterbottom concerns himself with truth rather than histrionic manipulation. Jolie triumphs, investing the French journalist married to a Jewish American, with all the subtleties of intelligence, emotional vulnerability contained under the surface of a life spent just getting the facts, ma'am.
Winterbottom's own triumph - sadly missed by some of the critics I've seen - is his sensitive yet raw treatment of the most complex of social messes with such clarity. Both camerawork and editing are visceral, the film almost reaches out from the screen to touch you, to guide you through political ploys as sinuous as the streets.
By fusing form and content so cohesively Winterbottom is able to lead us to an understanding of the context of the personal tragedy. Even characters who appear briefly - such as the female CIA agent - leave their scent on the story, lingering long after they're gone like cheap perfume.
No punches are pulled, but in a telling torture scene, Winterbottom never resorts to the gratuitous -- we see a suspect being interrogated by the Pakistani captain in charge of the case -- his voice is gentle, almost like a lover's. We only see the suspect naked from the waist up, his arms tied to a beam above his head. But we're frighteningly aware that below the screen's cut-off something unspeakable is going on.
Perhaps Winterbottom's most potent victory, though, is to simultaneously place us in Mariane's story and plant seeds of doubt in us to question our own mighty hearts.
Some critics have claimed the film left them cold, or doesn't sufficiently polarize the victims and terrorists. But, as Mariane says near the end -- "They do these things to terrorize us, but I wasn't terrorized."
It's a wonderful film and I highly recommend it.
|
| 12 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| w22dheartlivie |
Posted - 12/15/2007 : 11:28:03
To my misfortune, I rarely have the opportunity to attend the cinema, so I'm often forced to wait until a film comes out on DVD. Since I moved, I've had the opportunity to use On-Demand, and do so twice a month (a self-treat). I chose A Mighty Heart this week, quite unaware that Golden Globe nominations were due. With my vision impairment, I generally tape the film at the same time so I can go back over things I may have missed. I asked my friend Kennetha (who is the mother of my god-daughter who was snatched and murdered several years ago) if she would like to watch the tape with me. We did so yesterday.
I thought the film was well made. It was gritty and the documentary style filming highlighted the urgency and reality of what was being portrayed. Angelina Jolie was marvelous. Her acting was understated throughout the majority of the film, and I thought she did a wonderful job in portraying the centeredness and calm that Mariane Pearl tried to maintain through the vigil. As time passed, only her eyes betrayed the quiet desperation that was growing. I'm not sure where she mustered it, and it surely is a reflection of her talent, but the only description I could find for her ultimate breakdown was primal. To me, the anguish was palpable and when it was done, I felt wrung. Kennetha said it best when she said "only someone who has had someone they love snatched and destroyed could recognize a primal scream like that. I know, I screamed like that." We knew we were watching a performance worthy of a nomination, and likely, worthy of an Oscar. For us, it was painful to see, and not because it was overplayed. |
| demonic |
Posted - 10/28/2007 : 13:02:11
quote:
Originally posted by W8ippersnapper
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
I have to say I thought it was all very well done, but there was something missing for me.
A head?
You're a bad man!  |
| turrell |
Posted - 10/28/2007 : 02:35:32
SPOILERS (it was in the papers after all)
I finally saw this (thanks to my wife for beinf on the SAG nominating committee).
I was really let down by this. The construct of the movie was a thriller. The bulk of the action focussed on them trying to find Danny, yet we know how it ends. You can't even make the Titanic comparison because so many people survived that event so you didn't know which of teh fictional characters would come through.
Knowing how Daniel Pearl dies, I would have preferred to have that dealt with in the first quarter of the movie (there is no suspense). Then I would have liked to seen it focus on their relationship before the tragedy - we only see brief montage glimpses of their courting, wedding, etc. Alternatively they could have gone the Constant Gardener route where again you know that something happens early in the film but the action focusses on the what happened and why.
After you see the video (again no suspense, no shock as we know what happened) there is almost nothing for the film to do. It just kind of peters out until you get the scene at the end where Mariane tells everyone not to be petrified.
Jolie has been much better in a half dozen films - she is too reserved here to warrant any serious award consideration (ostensibly why th estudio sent screeners out to SAG nom committe memebers). A major criticism of the screeners itself - there were no subtitles to the local language scenes - its not like you needed them for the plot because I knew the basics, but it woud have made for some interesting dialogue I would hope.
If you never heard of Daniel Pearl and watched this movie it might have been intriguing, but knowing the story all too well demanded a different treatment of this important material. |
| Whippersnapper. |
Posted - 10/19/2007 : 11:45:26
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
I have to say I thought it was all very well done, but there was something missing for me.
A head?
|
| duh |
Posted - 10/19/2007 : 05:23:27
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
Reading Baffy's post I struggle to imagine why anyone, including Pitt, would think this would have been a vehicle suited to Jennifer Aniston though. Thank god we were spared that TV movie of the week.
Preach it, brother! |
| MisterBadIdea |
Posted - 10/18/2007 : 20:56:44
"I just didn't buy it - it seemed totally unconnected to anything before and after in the film"
I agree, but the problem is with the rest of the film, not the scene itself. I don't like these excessively dry films. The emphasis on true life and naturalism denies the film any attempt to reach some higher artistic truth. I just don't see the point; the realism dilutes the emotional impact so much, and really, a film like this is all about emotional impact. It doesn't really have much to say about terrorism or FBI investigations or anything about that, it's all about Marianne Pearl. That scene, and a scene intercut with footage of the Pearl's wedding is really the only scene with some impact.
And quite personally, I don't see how that scene is melodramatic. How the hell are you supposed to act when your husband's head is cut off? |
| Shiv |
Posted - 10/17/2007 : 11:14:02
What was the controversy about Jolie playing the role? I don't know if I'm remembering it rightly, but it was something to do with Marianne's 'ethnicity' (for want of a better word) I think. |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 10/17/2007 : 09:40:57
quote:
Originally posted by Salopian
I was horrified to see the other day a film tie-in edition of the book. I don't like these in general, but normally they're no worse than any other cover I happen to dislike. However, photographs of actors on a film about real people (and real people for whom photographs are readily available) just seems completely wrong to me, especially in such a sombre context.
I agree in principle, but you know as well as I that we live in a commodified society. Take to the street with a photo of the Pearls and that book cover and guess how many people are going to recognize the former. I think the operative word in your post is 'tie-in.' Sales above morals.
 |
| Demisemicenturian |
Posted - 10/17/2007 : 08:55:20
I was horrified to see the other day a film tie-in edition of the book. I don't like these in general, but normally they're no worse than any other cover I happen to dislike. However, photographs of actors from a film about real people (and real people for whom photographs are readily available) just seems completely wrong to me, especially in such a sombre context. |
| demonic |
Posted - 09/24/2007 : 01:12:57
I have to say I thought it was all very well done, but there was something missing for me.
Karachi was filmed superbly - it was like a seething hell of people, with a hardly contained violence and palpable tension. The thriller style hunt for the kidnappers was also exciting, even though the final outcome was well known to me and probably everyone in the cinema.
I expect Jolie will pick up an Oscar nomination for this, and quite rightly - she was excellent; very naturalistic and unafraid to paint Mariane in an occassionally unsympathetic light... apart from the key moment in the film which I thought was entirely misjudged; to my eyes (and ears) it was horribly overplayed and made my eyes water for all the wrong reasons.
There will probably be a lot of stuff written about how this was the defining moment and Jolie proved her acting chops. I just didn't buy it - it seemed totally unconnected to anything before and after in the film and Winterbottom would have done better to pitch it at a more appropriate scale than screaming melodramatics. For me the best scene was the torture scene - superbly underplayed by "The Captain" with layers of detail.
Reading Baffy's post I struggle to imagine why anyone, including Pitt, would think this would have been a vehicle suited to Jennifer Aniston though. Thank god we were spared that TV movie of the week. |
| thefoxboy |
Posted - 09/23/2007 : 23:02:17
http://www.fwfr.com/display.asp?uid=5127&id=12538&Mode=&Sort=5&Rows=1&Dir=1&Start=2 |
| Demisemicenturian |
Posted - 09/23/2007 : 20:09:58
I enjoyed it too, if one can use that term.
How bizarre that some people wanted the victims and terrorists to be polarised! Surely the fact that things are not so completely black and white is the whole point. |
|
|
