Film Review- A mighty heart

Film Review – A mighty heart

“A mighty heart” is Mariane Pearl’s account of the five weeks leading up to her husband, Daniel Pearl’s death. It’s based on the memoir she wrote of the experience in hopes that her son, Adam, could get a feel for the great man his father was and how much people cared about him. This movie explores various prejudices, human emotions and cross cultural conflicts. In the process it raises many issues, some subtly and some openly.

The issue of terrorism, combating terrorism, racial barriers, and prejudices, cross cultural conflicts, global solidarity, and corruption are raised very obviously. However there are other issues that are not explored but just mentioned. Like when Mariane gives a television after her husband’s death the reporter asks her what message does she have for the Pakistani’s and instead of showing hatred or vengeance she says that the same week as her husband was murdered ten Pakistanis were also murdered. Thus they are sailing in the same boat. Here we see a different approach, were Mariane wisely distinguishes between Pakistanis and terrorists.

I was a regular with the news when Daniel Pearl was actually abducted. I knew what the end of the film was going to be. However the movie was made so well that and you just may find yourself hoping for a different ending than the one you know is coming. Here the question of communicating history comes into play. Today after seeing this movie all that I heard five years ago becomes passé. I only remember the story told to me in this movie. Some of it may not be true, but modified truth to make the movie more dramatic. However today this is what people believe. Thus history out here becomes a story a mother wants to tell her son about her father. Maybe if the same movie wasn’t made this well it would get not acclaim. A lot of the acclaim was because of Angelina’s impeccable performance. Thus do we only notice things that are attractive, did this movie gain acclaim because of the social message or because of good direction, acting and the high profile star cast?

One very sad thing that I felt while seeing the movie was that the kind of investigation that took place for Daniel Pearl’s death was only because of his popularity and contribution to journalism. Is this fair? Does a famous man’s life only hold importance? And the people who were vehemently searching for Daniel weren’t doing it out of social responsibility; they were doing it for their personal relations with him. When they are asked to identify a body which was brutally murdered and realise it is not Daniel they pay no heed. They ignore it by saying, “It maybe some Iranian student.” Well that man was also a journalist; however he was not as famous as Daniel Pearl. Similar thing happened in Mumbai. When the 2006 train attacks took place there was investigation for a few days and then the matter slowly died out. People forgot about it and started leading their lives. This is because the blasts affected only the economically weaker sections of the society. However in 2008 when the terrorists attack took place in Taj a Five star hotel the entire country was shaken up. This is because it was for the first tome that the elite had been targeted. Ever since then security has improved in public places and everyone has become more alert.

Racial prejudices reign supreme in this movie. Conflicts between Indians and Pakistanis, between Americas and terrorists and between Jews and Muslims are predominant. Mariane’s Indian journalist friend is in a relationship with a Muslim man living in Karachi. She calls her boyfriend’s friends over for dinner one night. This is when Daniel is missing. They ask for Daniel and address him as a CIA agent. One friend goes on to say that “All American journalists are CIA agents.” Here we see how simply some ignorant person makes generalisations and does not even think twice about its implications. Even later the Pakistani news reporters label Daniel as a CIA agent. They do not think before labelling people and making generalisations. This is because of prejudices they hold against Americans in general and the CIA in particular.

Also when Mariane and Daniel go to interview a mullah about the terrorists attacks he blatantly blames the entire event on the Jews. He claims that on the day of the attack 4000 Jews working in the World Trade Centre did not turn up for work because they knew about it. He asks Daniel his cast and Daniel says he is a Jew them there is an awkward pause and the interview ends there. Later after Daniel is abducted the first question Mariane’s parents ask is that “Does anyone know he is a Jew” and Mariane lies to them. Are we defined by our cast, and is fair to generalise that if few Jews were terrorists all Jews are. In the same way if few Pakistanis did wrong to Daniel it is not that all of them are evil. There are few people like Captain, Pakistani intelligence (CID) chief and Daniel Pear who prove such generalisations wrong.

Thus this movie touches upon critical social issues. There are many deplorable facts of society portrayed but at the same time we see that solidarity is till maintained when people from all over the world- Pakistani, Cuban, Indian and American come together to save the life of an honourable man. It urges the audience to stop making generalisations and use their reason.

While no recreation could ever truly capture what they had or the tragic direction their lives lead, A Mighty Heart makes a surprisingly effective attempt. After all, not many movies can break your heart, keep your adrenaline racing and remind you of life’s value all at once. Director Michael Winterbottom has done a commendable job to chose such and issue and spread awareness. He as used the scope of the media and his art to create social awareness. This movie is very moving and compels audiences to re-evaluate some preconceived ideas.