A Mighty Heart (film)
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| 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 Irfan Khan |
| Cinematography | Marcel Zyskind |
| Editing by | Peter Christelis |
| Distributed by | Paramount Vantage |
| Release date(s) | 2007 |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Official website | |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
A Mighty Heart is a 2007 film directed by Michael Winterbottom; It is an adaptation of Mariane Pearl's memoir, A Mighty Heart.[1][2]
The film was released in North America on June 22, 2007.[3].
Contents |
[edit] Story
A Mighty Heart is a detailed account of the search for kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter[4] Daniel Pearl in 2002.
Pearl was kidnapped in Karachi by supporters of Omar Sheikh, who claimed responsibility (and was later captured and convicted but is appealing the ruling) for kidnapping and beheading Pearl in 2002. The movie also covers efforts by Department of Justice and Diplomatic Security Service to track the kidnappers and bring them to justice.
[edit] Cast
- Angelina Jolie as Mariane Pearl
- Dan Futterman as Daniel Pearl
- Will Patton as Special Agent Randall Bennett
- Archie Panjabi as Asra Nomani
- Azfar Ali as Azfar
- Jillian Armenante as Maureen Platt
- Zachary Coffin as Matt MacDowell
- Demetri Goritsas as John Skelton
- Sajid Hasan as Zubair
- Irfan Khan as Captain CID
- Mikail Lotia as Hasan
- Denis O'Hare as Bussey
- Ali Khan as Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh/Bashir
- Adnan Siddiqui as Dost Alishani
[edit] Production
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 Daniel and Mariane lived. Flashback scenes were shot there. The film was also shot in France and Austin, Texas.
In November 2006, bodyguards involving the film's security detail were accused of verbally abusing and assaulting parents in Pune who were picking up their children. Paparazzi may have provoked the incident.[5]
[edit] Box office performance
A Mighty Heart was not a huge financial success initially, earning a total revenue of $18 million in box office compared to its production budget of $17 million [6]. The film opened June 22, 2007 in the United States and Canada and grossed $3.9 million in 1,355 theaters its opening weekend, ranking #10 at the box office. A Mighty Heart went on to gross $18,727,125 worldwide.[6] As of December 16, the film has grossed an additional $23.3 million dollars in DVD/VHS sales and rentals in the United States[citation needed]. It has successfully made 3 times it's production costs to date.
[edit] Critical reception
The film received generally favorable reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 77% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 175 reviews.[7] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 74 out of 100, based on 38 reviews.[8]
The film received very positive reviews from Roger Ebert and Larry King in reaction to Angelina Jolie's leading role. The film was described by Newsweek as "a movie without melodrama or movie-star lighting…allowing Jolie to deliver the most delicate, powerful and human-scale performance of her career." Jolie’s performance was widely touted by top critics as her finest artistic achievement to date.[9]
The film has been reviewed by, among others, Variety,[10] Rolling Stone,[11] Salon.com,[12] Hollywood Reporter,[3] and Entertainment Weekly.[13]
Marc Mohan of The Oregonian named it the 10th best film of 2007.[14]
[edit] Criticism
Asra Nomani, a colleague[15] 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."
The announcement of the casting of Angelina Jolie in the role of Mariane Pearl drew criticism within the African American community.[16] Pop culture critic Orville Lloyd Douglas has criticized the casting[17] because, he said, "Jolie is white" and Mariane Pearl is "biracial." 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. This opinion however turned out to be erroneous as Jolie was nominated for a Best Actress NAACP award for her portrayal of a 'woman of color,' in the film. Douglas, ascribes to the American 'one drop rule,' that denotes a black identity based on black lineage solely. Marianne Pearl while being proud of her Afro-Cuban roots, is equally proud of her Dutch, Jewish, and French roots - and looked past skin color when making her contributions to casting.
Mariane Pearl personally chose Angelina Jolie to play the lead in A Mighty Heart.[18] In response to casting complaints, Mariane Pearl said "I have heard some criticism about her casting, but it is not about the color of your skin. It is about who you are. I asked her to play the role--even though she is way more beautiful than I am--because I felt a real kinship to her. She put her whole heart into it, and I think she understood why we should do this movie. We had something to say that we knew we should say together." [18]
[edit] Awards
On November 27, 2007, the film was nominated for 3 Independent Spirit Awards including Best Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Picture of the Year.
Jolie was nominated for a Teen Choice Award for Best Movie Actress: Drama, but lost to Jennifer Hudson of Dreamgirls. She was also nominated for a Golden Satellite Award for Best Movie Actress: Drama[19] and received an Outstanding Performance of the Year Award for her performance from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling said, "We are honored to celebrate Ms. Jolie in what is arguably one of the most extraordinary female roles of the year".[20]
| Award | Category | Nominee | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 65th Golden Globe Awards[21] | Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama | Angelina Jolie | No |
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | Best Actress | Angelina Jolie | No |
| Golden Satellite Awards | Best Actress | Angelina Jolie | No |
| Independent Spirit Awards | Best Actress (Female Lead) | Angelina Jolie | No |
| Best Film (Feature) | No | ||
| Best First Screenplay | John Orloff | No | |
| Teen Choice Awards | Best Actress - Drama | Angelina Jolie | No |
| 34th People's Choice Awards[22] | Favorite Independent Movie | No | |
[edit] References
- ^ Scott Bowles. "Jolie and Pitt, with 'Heart'", USA Today, 2006-10-10. Retrieved on 2007-06-07.
- ^ Agence France Presse. "Angelina Jolie and Mariane Pearl discuss 'A Mighty Heart'", Turkish Daily News, 2007-05-04. Retrieved on 2007-06-07.
- ^ a b Ray Bennett. "Review: 'A Mighty Heart'" (html), The Hollywood Reporter, 22 May 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-16. "With the BBC's Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston now missing and believed kidnapped for 70 days and journalists in danger in hotspots worldwide, a film version of Mariane Pearl's book about the search for her husband could not be more timely… the film reflects the dispassionate view espoused by Mariane Pearl, who sees that it is misery that breeds terrorism. Jolie plays her with respect and a firm grasp on a difficult accent influenced by France and Cuba."
- ^ Joe Strupp (21 June 2007). 'WSJ' Editors Call 'A Mighty Heart' Fair and Accurate (html). Editor & Publisher. “"It was an accurate portrayal of the Journal and I think the Journal's people, like [then-foreign editor] John Bussey, who were deeply involved came off well as they should have," said former managing editor Paul Steiger, who said he saw the movie recently in a private showing for Journal staffers. "I think Angelina Jolie captured Mariane very, very well." Managing Editor Marcus Brauchli, who took over for Steiger and was national editor at the time of Pearl's death, also believed the film was fair. "I don't feel that the Journal was portrayed badly in the film," he said. "I think we were treated reasonably. Angelina Jolie did a good job of channeling Mariane."”
- ^ Associated Press. "Jolie Says Pearl Film Is 'Very Real'", The Washington Post, April 19, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-07.
- ^ a b A Mighty Heart (2007). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2007-11-03.
- ^ A Mighty Heart - Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
- ^ Mighty Heart, A (2007): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
- ^ Sean Smith. "Angelina Jolie wants to save the world", Newsweek, 25 June 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-24. "a movie without melodrama or movie-star lighting…allowing Jolie to deliver the most delicate, powerful and human-scale performance of her career."
- ^ Justin Chang. "A Mighty Heart: Cannes Film Festival Review", Variety, 21 May 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-16. "In his first studio venture, Michael Winterbottom coaxes forth a staggering wealth of detail from this terse, methodical account."
- ^ Peter Travers. "A Mighty Heart" (html), Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-06-16.
- ^ 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.)”
- ^ Lisa Schwarzbaum. "Movie Review: A Mighty Heart" (html), Entertainment Weekly, 13 June 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-16.
- ^ Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
- ^ "A Mighty Shame" by Asra Q. Nomani, The Washington Post opinion, June 24, 2007
- ^ "Angelina Jolie sparks casting controversy", 2 August 2006. Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
- ^ Orville Lloyd Douglas. "Shades of blackface" (html), The New Zealand Herald, 9 June 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-19. "When Angelina Jolie was cast to play Marianne Pearl in the biopic film A Mighty Heart there was an uproar by the African American community. Jolie is white whereas Pearl - widow of journalist Daniel Pearl who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002 - is a biracial woman of Afro-Cuban heritage with her mother Marita Van Neyenhoff being black."
- ^ a b 10 Questions for Mariane Pearl by Carolyn Sayre, Time Q&A June 21, 2007
- ^ A Mighty Heart (2007) - Awards
- ^ » Blog Archive » ANGELINA JOLIE TO RECEIVE OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE HONOR AT 23RD SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
- ^ HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION 2008 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2007. goldenglobes.org (2007-12-13). Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
- ^ People's Choice Awards Past Winners: 2008. PCAvote.com. Sycamore Productions. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
[edit] External links
- A Mighty Heart at the Internet Movie Database
- A Mighty Heart at Rotten Tomatoes
- A Mighty Heart at Metacritic
- A Mighty Heart at Box Office Mojo
- A Mighty Heart at Allmovie
- The Times film review
- Angelina Jolie talks about the challenges of playing Mariane Pearl at MSNBC.com
- Review of A Mighty Heart along with trailer
