A Mighty Heart Review
by Anthony Morris
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For years now UK
writer / director Michael Winterbottom has bounced between styles and
genres, making films as varied as the boppy musical biopic 24 Hour Party People, the 'all real sex all the time' 9 Songs, the SF thriller Code 46 and the gritty re-telling of classic English lit text The Mayor of Casterbridge.
But
recently he's been coming back to a pseudo documentary style using real
locations, hand-held video and few big name stars to tell stories about
the underbelly of Western civilisation.
It began with In This World,
a film about two Afghan refugees trying to enter Europe that was so
convincing many mistook it for a real documentary. Then came last
year's The Road to Guantanamo,
a harrowing look at the case of the “Tipton Three”, three young UK
citizens of Pakistani origin who were held for two years without charge
at Guantanamo Bay.
That film mixed interviews and re-creations: A Mighty Heart
doesn’t go that far, but in its re-enaction of the ordeal pregnant
French journalist Mariane Pearl (Angelina Jolie) went through in early
2002 when her husband Daniel (Dan Futterman) was kidnapped and
eventually beheaded by Islamic extremists in Pakistan - it pulls next
to no punches.
There are few dramatic flourishes in what
is at heart a straightforward re-enactment of Pearl's disappearance and
the efforts by police to find his captors, but Winterbottom’s skill at
finding the emotional heart of a story makes this a totally gripping
and very moving experience - even for those who know the
(widely-publicised) outcome.
And Jolie, who all too often
seems to be cruising on her looks in movies, here gives a totally
convincing performance as a strong-willed and completely determined (if
not always likable) woman.
Any comparison between Jolie’s character here and her actual personality are for others to make: either way A Mighty Heart isn’t a film you'll quickly forget. 3.5 out
of 5 A Mighty Heart
Australian release: 18th October, 2007
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Archie Panjabi
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Website: Click
here.
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