June 22, 2007
MOVIE REVIEW | 'A MIGHTY HEART'
Using the Light of a Star to Illuminate Ugly Truths
By MANOHLA DARGIS
Is it too early for a movie about the short, charmed life and horrible death of Daniel Pearl? It’s a fair question, raised in echo of those voices that several years ago worried if it were too early for a movie about Sept. 11. Like all those who died that day, Mr. Pearl was a casualty of Islamist hatred of Western civilization. And, much as with those other terror victims, his murder has now inspired a mainstream movie meant to entertain as much as to instruct and enlighten, a movie that will be seen by some as vulgar proof of that same civilization’s willingness to turn a buck on everything, including tragedy.
And make no mistake, despite its pseudo-documentary grit and the imprimatur of the midcult art-house director Michael Winterbottom, “A Mighty Heart” is a precision-tooled Hollywood machine. Based on the memoir by Mariane Pearl, it was bankrolled by a studio division and comes attached to two of the biggest stars in the world, Brad Pitt, who served as one of its producers, and his partner and the film’s heat-seeking star, Angelina Jolie. For some, these boldface names will be reason enough to snigger. But snigger too loudly and you may miss that “A Mighty Heart” is effectively fashioned, as jolting as it is polished, as well as a surprising, insistently political work of commercial art.
Ms. Jolie is clearly the glittering lure here, of course, as much a distraction as a pitifully easy target. That’s too bad, because fine as she is, what distinguishes “A Mighty Heart” is its assertion that politics and ideology play a part in poverty and terrorism, in the way some men exploit human misery in the name of God and righteousness. It’s the movie’s insistence that politics are integrated into the warp and woof of life, rather than something you wear like a campaign button, which gives pause. Unlike “United 93” and “World Trade Center,” in which terrorism is only a criminal act — without context, without history, without purpose — “A Mighty Heart” underscores the idea that Daniel Pearl’s murder was as much an act of political theater as a personal catastrophe.
Personal politics were a driving force in Daniel and Mariane Pearl’s life together. Young, beautiful, in love and expecting their first child (a boy, Adam), they landed in Karachi, a sprawling Pakistani port city on the coast of the Arabian Sea, on Sept. 12, 2001. They were journalists: She mostly worked for public radio and television in her native France; he filed for The Wall Street Journal. The year before, Mr. Pearl, 38, seen mostly in flashback and played by a serviceable Dan Futterman, had become the Journal’s South Asia bureau chief. Mr. Pearl liked to be in the thick of things (he covered Iran for years), but he was cautious too. For him, it appears, the great adventure was being in love.
That, at any rate, is the story that Ms. Pearl tells in her painful book, written with Sarah Crichton. Published the year after her husband was beheaded, after his body was cut into 10 pieces, buried and recovered, the memoir is a tenderly intimate portrait of two remarkable people. Adapted for the screen by John Orloff (“Band of Brothers”), the movie follows the arc of the memoir in sweep and faithful detail. The day before the Pearls were to leave Karachi, Danny went off to interview an extremist cleric. Instead, he was kidnapped in a complex plot partly engineered by the British-born Ahmed Omar Sheikh, who had spent years in an Indian jail for taking foreigners hostage in a bid to free imprisoned Kashmiri separatists.
Mariane, six months pregnant, waited for her husband. In a short time she was joined in her ordeal by an alphabet soup of Pakistani and American intelligence and counterterrorism types. Among the most important were Randall Bennett (Will Patton, perfect and perfectly creepy), an American security officer who worked at the United States consulate, and a Pakistani that Ms. Pearl calls the Captain (the great Indian actor Irrfan Khan), the chief of that country’s counterterrorism unit. Together with this swarm, Ms. Pearl and another Journal reporter, Asra Q. Nomani (Archie Panjabi), set up a war room in the house where the Pearls were staying with Ms. Nomani. They chased leads, pored through Danny’s files and waited some more.
Structured like a police procedural, the movie has the metabolism of a thriller (it’s quick, quick, quick), the bursting heart of a romance and the brains of, well, some very clever people. Just how clever is best evidenced by the way this star vehicle tries to pretend that it isn’t one. Mr. Winterbottom, a canny chameleon whose defining aesthetic signature as a director is that he doesn’t have one, makes a show of working around the gorgeous 800-pound gorilla parked in the center of his movie, mostly by the strategically spare use of close-ups. But even when he’s showing you the back of Ms. Jolie’s corkscrew-curly head, which he does repeatedly, you never forget whom you’re watching.
And, really, why should we? Some of us may remember Daniel Pearl or at least his gruesome execution, but everyone knows Ms. Jolie: That’s why stars were invented. Like all big movie stars, she can’t disappear into her role for long; rather, she bobs to the surface of our consciousness, recedes, bobs to the surface, recedes. Her celebrity bequeaths the movie its capital “I” importance, but her wild stare also affectingly suggests the tumult beneath Mariane’s preternatural calm. After she appears on CNN to plead for Danny’s safe return, someone mutters that you wouldn’t know that this dry-eyed woman’s husband had been kidnapped. But why the American need for tears? Ms. Pearl asks. She wasn’t sad; she was furious.
“A Mighty Heart” is wrenching, but it’s the buzzing undercurrent of anger that makes it most true to its source. Time and again, Mr. Winterbottom plunges his jittery camera into the chaos of Karachi, into the noisy streets crowded with men and notably absent many women. This was the disorienting, alien and often frightening world into which Mariane and Daniel Pearl, a French Buddhist and an American Jew, willingly and bravely jumped. Although Ms. Pearl insists that her husband was also a cautious man up until the day he was kidnapped, maybe they were a little reckless. But they were fired up by a shared belief that journalism could help make the world better, a chokingly poignant idea in these shockingly cynical times.
That may be naïve, but idealism is a form of resistance. And in its modest, at times awkward, way, this little movie with the big movie star tries to bring us into a conversation that, at least in this country, is often relegated to the bummer front pages of your daily paper or glimpsed on television in between diet tips and, yes, news about Brangelina. It’s a difficult conversation at times, and to its credit, the movie doesn’t shy away from just how difficult, specifically in a horrific scene that shows a man being tortured for information about Danny’s whereabouts. Mr. Pearl would have probably been appalled that this outrage was committed on his behalf; the point is, we should be too.
“A Mighty Heart” is rated R. (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.) The film contains verbal obscenities; Mr. Pearl’s death is not portrayed on screen.
Directed by Michael Winterbottom; written by John Orloff, based on the book “A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl” by Mariane Pearl; director of photography, Marcel Zyskind; edited by Peter Christelis; production designer, Mark Digby; produced by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Andrew Eaton; released by Paramount Vantage. Running time: 108 minutes.
WITH: Angelina Jolie (Mariane Pearl), Dan Futterman (Danny Pearl), Archie Panjabi (Asra Q. Nomani), Irrfan Khan (Captain), Will Patton (Randall Bennett), Denis O’Hare (John Bussey), Adnan Siddiqui (Dost Aliani), Gary Wilmes (Steve LeVine) and Nassim BenBrik (Adam).
Now read the comments made by idiots at racialicious.com condemning Angelina Jolie for daring to be a "white" woman playing a woman "of color" as they define the terms (Mariane Pearl is of mixed ancestry, part of it African, and that makes all the difference to them).
Well...It is Counterpunch, which is a hard left webzine, and the opinion of any black woman (from the U.S.) on matters racial is seen as beyond criticism, especially if it is dressed up in progressive clothing. I will say, though, that I think Jolie was a bad choice to play Pearl. Thandi Newton would have been better. The author's argument is Pearl is black (by her and U.S. standards), and therefore, only someone black (or "of color" ) should play her on the big screen. Somehow I doubt the author would be upset if Angela Basset, a person who looks nothing like Pearl, played the female lead.
Arguably Pearl, a European, has more non-African ancestry than African (her Cuban mother is supposedly of Chinese and African descent). If so, then a white actress in a "nappy wig” and dark makeup is just as qualified to play her as a black actress sporting skin lightener and a perm.
When White Actors Play Black Characters
The Whitening of Marianne Pearl
By MARGARET KIMBERLEY
I find it mightily amusing when one droppists try to classify us. Marianne Pearl is whatever she was raised as. She wasn’t raised in the US. SO the one drop rule never applied to her. In Puerto Rico, for example, she would bee seen as White.
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When Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped in Pakistan in 2002 his wife, Marianne, became a fixture in international media. The first time I saw her I made a very simple observation. "His wife is black," I said to myself. I know a black person when I see one, and I saw one in Marianne Pearl.
Translation: You eyeballed someone and assumed you knew her based on your limited experience.
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In the new film A Mighty Heart, Pearl is portrayed by actress Angelina Jolie. Jolie is white.
Jolie is of mixed ancestry like Pearl. One has African the other has Native American ancestry.
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Here we are in the 21st century and a white actor is portraying a black character. Not just any character, but a real life, well-known, still living human being. Anyone who sees Marianne Pearl knows she isn't white, but the powers that be in Hollywood didn't care and knew they could get away with this offensive charade.
More stupidity. Mariane Pearl and Angelina Jolie are friends. MARIANE wanted Angelina to play her. In fact, their Children are Playmates.
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Marianne Pearl was born in France to a Cuban mother and a Dutch father. Her mother was quite obviously black, photos are unambiguous on that point. Her father was European, so she can be described as multi-racial or biracial. It doesn't really matter what term or words Pearl uses to describe herself. She is clearly a person of African ancestry, and putting dark make up and a curly wig on Angelina Jolie doesn't change that fact or fool anyone.
1/3 of the White American population is of recent African ancestry. Your point? But when a mixed person with blue eyes was put on the cover of Essence, people had a cow.
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The days of white actors using various makeup techniques to play non-white people should be over in the new millennium. Who can forget Marlon Brando portraying an Okinawan or John Wayne as Genghis Khan. Those days should be long gone and consigned to the dust bin of Hollywood's shameful history.
Derogatory portrayals should always be countered, but not if they are positive. And not if they are done by someone the person portrayed approves of.
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In the old days, white actors always played light-skinned black characters who could "pass" for white. Films such as Pinky and Imitation of Life are historic examples of that phenomenon. We now have a white person portraying a not so light skinned, obviously black, living person. It seems that Hollywood is becoming less enlightened with time.
Fredi Washington, the actress who plays the light-skinned daughter Peola, was an actual light-skinned African American, who was noted for turning down a number of offers by Hollywood agents to pass for white and become a star. Although many African Americans were screen-tested for the Sarah Jane role in the 1959 remake, Susan Kohner, of Mexican and Hungarian (Jewish) decent, won the role.
Of course, it didn't hurt Jolie that her boyfriend Brad Pitt produced the movie. Because Pitt is a bankable star and producer, he can get whatever he wants. If he had insisted on having an actress of color portray a woman of color he could have gotten that too. It isn't clear if he was motivated by the desire for familial bliss, "color doesn't count, can't we all get along, kumbayah" fantasy, bigger bucks at the box office, or all of the above.
Pearl and Jolie are just fine with the arrangement, and why not. Jolie gets a role she wanted and Pearl gets to see her story on the silver screen. Both are defensive about the casting criticisms and plead with the peasantry to remain silent.
"I know that people are frustrated at the lack of great roles [for people of color], but I think they've picked the wrong example here," Jolie opined. Why is this example wrong? Is it because honesty and integrity would have denied her the part? If Jolie can possibly think of a reason why the rest of us should just shut up and accept modern day blackface she needs to come up with a better explanation.
Modern Day Black face my ass. She darkens less than many Black women using facial lighteners lighten up. The fact of the is she is mixed and so is Marianne. Deal with it.
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Marianne Pearl also thinks that critics should bite their tongues. "This is not about skin color. I wanted her to play me because I trust her. Aren't we past this?" Who is we? Hollywood endlessly promotes white people and their image. If they aren't "past" the business of telling the world that only white people are acceptable, beautiful, and noble, then the rest of us shouldn't be "past" demanding that our images be shown, especially if the image in question is that of a living individual who is obviously not the same race as the actor playing the part.
Get a clue. Race has been disproved. And you wonder why people the world around thinks the US is messed up in the head. It’s not because of Whites, its not because of Blacks. It is both of you and your incessant pettiness based on “race.” Plenty of us coming from other places are of African or European ancestry or both and don’t have your phobias. Thank God. Yes, Jim Crow was only 40 years ago. But people learn to move on. You obviously haven’t.
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Pearl's acquiescence is no reason for other black people to think that this throwback to Hollywood's dark ages, pun intended, should be acceptable. She is not free to instruct the rest of the African ancestored world how we should react when our very presence is denied and our image is erased. The story of a pregnant journalist whose husband is kidnapped and beheaded tugs at the heart strings. Apparently the deal makers in Hollywood feared that those heart strings wouldn't be moved if one black or multiracial person portrayed another.
Which you got wrong twice. Mariane isn’t Black and Angelina is mixed.
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Last but not least, Pitt and Jolie should not be given a pass for their white washing endeavor. They have adopted Asian and African children and given birth to one on the African continent. They may get brownie points for having a multiracial family, but that shouldn't protect them from criticism when they tell us not to believe our lying eyes.
The only one lying is you, to yourself.
Last edited by Salsassin on Mon 02 Jul 2007 15:51; edited 1 time in total
Let us know if she has the courage to respond. Usually people like her will not when showered with the facts that destroy their relm of thinking.
Round 2:
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From: margaret.kimberley@blackagendareport.com [mailto:margaret.kimberley@blackagendareport.com]
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 2:57 PM
To: Jaime Pretell
Subject: RE: Mariane Pearl.
I said nothing about the so-called one drop rule. I said that Pearl is obivious of African ancestry and that the actress portraying her should be as well. I don't know what Jolie's racial ancestry is, but unlike Pearl, Africa doesn't show on her face. That was my point and if anyone is stupid it is you. You can't even read.
You need to travel more. I have seen Jewish people with the exact same phenotype. The point is she does not identify as Black and as such does not need to identify by ethnic terms that fit you. In the same vein, no one complained when these actors portrayed Light Skinned African Americans. Even though their phenotype was much more markedly different.
Thurgood Marshall portrayed by Sidney Poitier
Rock portrayed Sean Porter
Rock portrayed Buford Pusser
Both alive and well.
Anwar Sadat portrayed by Gosset Jr.
Clayton Powell Jr portrayed by Lennix
Rosa parks Portrayed by Angela Basset
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As far as the two women being friends, I am similarly unimpressed. Pearl's opinions hold no sway with anyone else. The rest of the African ancestered world has the right to say that we don't want to be removed from the pages of history yet again. Her friendship with Jolie is of no concern to me.
The rest of the mixed population feels the same way about the Black population constantly trying to co-opt them. I am of African Ancestry as well as Asian, Native American and European. Sorry, but like me or any other mixed person, not raised in a one drop culture, you don’t define us.
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I also don't care what Essence has to say about anything. I don't care who they have on the cover or what their models look like.
And yet, they represent your mentality so well.
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Were you a witness to the screen tests for Imitation of Life? If not, I'm not sure how you know that Kohner was the best actress for the part.
For the same reason an African American was held to be the best for the part in an equally biased period in history.
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Learn to read. Learn to think. Shorten your emails, unless of course you follow the rest of my advice.
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