Five years ago, people around the world prayed for the release of a man they’d never met. Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped while investigating a story in Karachi, Pakistan, and weeks later, he was brutally murdered. It was an event that shook a nation.

The unforgettable story is told in A Mighty Heart, a film that grabs hold and doesn’t let go until its very last minute.

Director Michael Winterbottom’s adaptation of the book written by the slain journalist’s widow, Mariane Pearl, is harrowingly compelling, and despite the tragic circumstance, to watch this story unfold is truly a breathtaking experience.

Pearl, the Wall Street Journal’s South Asian bureau chief, disappears after leaving his pregnant wife in Pakistan to interview cleric Mubarik Ali Gilani, a suspected terrorist with connections to “shoe bomber” Richard Reid. Danny would get in a cab on January 23, 2002, and never return.

While the tragic outcome is inevitable, the air of suspense is not lost. Winterbottom abandons any indications of sensationalism and instead creates a painstaking atmosphere of subdued apprehension. No exaggerations, no forced action for the sake of a Hollywood audience, just the respectful yet still commanding truth.

He provides a compassionate thriller that reminds us of the humanity of injustice that underlies the terrorist quandary Pearl (Dan Futterman) valiantly sought to uncover. Winterbottom’s take on the account is neither exploitative nor biased as he brilliantly uses documentary-style realism to dramatize one of the most newsworthy and central stories in the past decade that is still fresh in public memory and disconcerting to the mind.

When Danny goes missing, almost imminently, Pakistani authorities and U.S. agents come together in an extremely diverse group of people with a unifying purpose: bring their friend and colleague home unharmed. Pakistanis, Americans, Indians, and Europeans invade close friend Asra Nomani’s (Archie Panjabi) living room and as they delve into the mystery of Daniel Pearl’s disappearance, the heart of the story is revealed.

Prejudice aside, these people from different ethnicities and religious backgrounds take us along for their journey of hope and the inevitable trepidation they faced in the weeks following the kidnapping.

The sense of community found in that room is imperative but most importantly at the centre of the chaos is an excruciating portrait of a wife and soon-to-be mother caught between anguish and optimism.

Complete with corkscrewed Mediterranean curls, a prosthetic belly, tinted skin, and a complex French accent, inflected with Cuban and Dutch influence, Angelina Jolie transforms into Mariane Pearl, the journalist and courageous widow that defiantly refused to give up the search to find her husband.

Jolie’s larger-than-life celebrity persona vanishes as she reminds us that she is an Academy Award winning actress and one of the best in the business. In case we had forgotten her talent – amidst the babies, the media backlash and the brazen paparazzi – her brittle and beautifully restricted performance enables us to subsist in a world where the names Maddox, Shiloh and Pax don’t exist. A world in which Mariane, Danny and their heartbreaking love story of truth-seeking and sacrifice is all that matters.

There are certain instances in this heartrending reality when the most normal conversations take on a deeper meaning. Danny’s goodbye and promise to be home for dinner is rendered as painfully poetic, a child playing throughout the house as the investigation tumbles on is an agonizing reminder of the unborn son burgeoning in Mariane’s belly. Flashbacks to the couple’s wedding and scenes of happier times stand out with captivating poignancy. Each moment is flawlessly realistic and in those simple occurrences, the audience is left grasping for more glimpses of the slain hero.

Yes, we know how the unfortunate events disentangle. And still, after learning the news of Danny’s beheading, when Mariane releases her grief in the form of tormented screams, the impact is monumental. Jolie taps into this key moment and delivers fury, intensity and a rawness that cements her capability.

This film is satiated with the stuff Oscars are made of and ripe with political importance. It’s a pertinent illustration that perfectly captures the politics of our present post-9/11 world. A Mighty Heart depicts the cold brutality of this current global culture in which truth-tellers like Danny Pearl are silenced and targeted for their dedication to unabashed honesty. But Pearl’s efforts to use sincere journalism as a tool to bridge communities in conflict was not in vain and as his spirit is immortalized in his fearless wife and the presence of his son; his story will remain ceaseless, suspended forever in this remarkable picture.






Related Stories: