Mighty Performance

If there were one person that I would have put my money on to be nominated for an academy award it would have been Angelina Jolie for her role in A Mighty Heart. I would have lost, obviously but Jolie’s performance in this devastating drama should be noted.

Instead of playing the role in an obvious way, Jolie plays it with subtlety, the decorum and strength of a woman who has seen her fair share of devastation and suffering.

A Mighty Heart tells the true story of Daniel Pearl, an American journalist who was beheaded at the hands of militants in Pakistan. Jolie plays his pregnant wife Mariane Pearl. The inevitable conclusion makes for difficult viewing. With no hope of a happy ending Mariane Pearl’s stone hard determination to find her husband is so much more heartbreaking.

It begins with Daniel and Mariane, both journalists, together in Karachi while Daniel is working on a story about the shoebomber, Richard Reid. That night Danny fails to come home for supper and after being absent for 24 hours an investigation into his whereabouts begins.

Before long a group comprised of an American diplomatic security agent, various Wall Street Journal friends including the editor, Pakistan’s brand new counter-terrorism unit, the FBI and Mariane herself work together to try and find Daniel.

Unfounded rumours about Daniel’s involvement with the CIA, newspaper articles and videos showing him with his kidnappers start appearing. The frenzied investigation from Pakistani and American officials continues until the inevitable end.

Despite knowing the ending, A Mighty Heart is surprisingly compelling with the ultimate driving force not being whether or not Daniel Pearl survives but how Marianne Pearl does. Hollywood has been churning out a number of films which try to convey the current international political climate. None, are as effective as this one.

Filming mostly in Karachi gives A Might Heart an authenticity and the balanced story telling does not set out to portray any group as villains.