Mighty Heart, A DVD Review

"A Mighty Heart" reviews

DVD

A Mighty Heart

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2008-02-01 15:50:55

Provider

DVD Review

In January 2002, American journalist Daniel Pearl travelled to Karachi, Pakistan, to investigate links between foiled London shoe bomber Richard Reid and Islamic radicals. Alas, he was never heard from again, until images of his grisly beheading were circulated on the internet in the shape of a video.

A Mighty Heart concentrates on the final few months of Pearl's life via his then-pregnant wife, Mariane (Angelina Jolie), who is told that her husband is in league with the CIA and Mossad. When Mariane loses cellphone contact with her husband, who appears only very briefly in the film, she summons help in the form of local cops and the US consulate, both of whom are suspicious of the other's motives.

Nothing can detract from the power of Jolie's performance, its quiet dignity proving more moving than any number of heavy-handed documentaries. The scene when the awful video surfaces – which, wisely, director Michael Winterbottom refuses to show – and she retreats to the privacy of an empty room, unleashing a howl that's far more potent than words, is among the finest you may ever see. The DVD release includes a 'making of' documentary and a Public Service Announcement from the Pearl Foundation.