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he world was riveted in January and Feb- ntary 2OO2when 38- year-old Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kid- napped by terrorists in Pakistan and bru- tally murdered. Footage of his execution spread worldwide via the Internet, giving the tragedy a macabre 2Ist-century spin. But the film'AMighty Heart," based on the memoir of his widow, feltow journal- ist Mariane Pearl, offers a story of hope rather than hate Opening Friday, it shows Mariane - played by Angelina Jolie - six months pregnant and su[ounded by strangers, people of differ ent faiths and backgrounds. all coming together to try to rescue Daniel after his kidnapping Even in despair, Mariane finds some- '' thing positive - linking her cry of pain at the news of Daniel's death to the cries of pain and happinesswhile laler giving birth to their son, Adam Even in the dark- esl moments. Mariane insists on seeing light That, above aU, is what drove Jolie to be involved "Mariane, under F the most extraordi- o nary circumstances, remained very fo- cused on even having sympathy for the 3 o other side, even after they did that to her c husbmd," says Jolie, interuiewed at the o E c
Cmnes Film Festival last month "And trina, the couple purchased a home in I'm sure she felt all that we would ex- still-devastated New a Orleans The deci 3 pect her to feel But somehow, on top of sion by Jolie to give birth to her daugh- zE that, she managed to rise above it " ter, Shiloh, now a year old, in Namibia, Jolie and her partnet Brad made worldwide headlines = Pitt, had optioned the book Now they're tuming their art when it was in galleys to toward life with "A Mighty develop as a film Heart." Yes, the film will re- The two have used mind Hollywood that, de- r their lives to further spite o "Alexander" and the their causes (when Pitt 2005 summer hit "Mr and N went to Africa, he took Mrs Smith," Jolie is a seri- r d Diane Sawyer and ABC ous, Oscar-winning actress - with him, deciding that c if 7 but she has higher goals. cameras are going to follow "I hope heoplel read Mari- him everywhere, he might as ane's book, first of all," saysthe 32 ! well get them to look c at some of the year-old actress "I hope they basically world's problems) After Huricme Ka- get to know her and I hope they look ut u)Fr
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z o eforethe movieof "A lvtightyHeart," and evenbefore € the book,actress Angelina Jolie and reporter N4ariane Pearlreached out to oneanothe[ Pearl's story - a woman in Pakistanpregnant with her first child suffers the nightmarescenario of watchingas herjournalist husllandis kidnappedand publically murdered - hadriveted peopleacross the globe.Daniel Pearl's beheading was a flashpointof politicsand inhumanity,cruelty and terrorism Joliesaw a singlemother clinging to hopeamid despair "Theirfriendship predates the film and the book,,'says "MightyHeart" co-producer Dede Gardner, who runsplan B. BradPitt's production company. Pitt had boughtMariane pearl's bookas a movieproject prior to Jolle'sfirst meetingthe actor on 2005's"Mr andMrs Smith" "Theyshtre similaf [views]about how they livetheir lives andhow they parent their kids. And they were both single moms lat the time, Joliehad a year-oldadopted son, N,4addoxl; it was a very naturalunion. And that got reinforcedas they got to know eachother befte[" Directort\,4ichael Winterbottom saw lolie embodyher friend on-cameraand o1f 'Angelinaseemed to havethe samerelationship to the other actorson the set that Marianehad to the Deoplein the house lin Pakistan],''says Winterbottom- "Everyone in the housewith l,4arianesaid to me that Marianereally brought together the team and madethem feel goodabout what they were doing That's what Angelinadid on the set We had a lot of nonprofessional actorsfrom Pakistan,people from lndia,Britain, America - and shealways behaved like she was absolutelyone ofthe team and createda reallyfriendly, family atmosphereon the set" Watchingiolie and Pearl side by sidewhen the movie premieredat the CannesFilm Festival, it's evident how protectiveand proudJolie is of Pearland her abilityto send out a messageof hopeand compassionin the wake of her husband'smurder. And when the two women are together,as they were at Cannes,their similaritiesbecome cleal
"When| first metAngelina, it waswith was breakingdown the voiceof a friend" Mariane,"says Winterbottom. "We spent two or ButJolie did much more than simply mimic pearl threedays talking. I saw how closethey were, and (andin fact admitsshe's too shyto do the accentin how clearlyMariane wanted her to playthe part They frontof her);she got to knowher emotions, her way of seemedto trust eachother, and that was a lcrucial]starting point.,, seeingthe world And Pearl'sapproval of the film, Joliesays, Interms of herphysical performance, perhaps the trickiest was the most impoftant asoectof it all for her aspectof the rolefor loliewas Pearl'saccent. which combines "l do seemore her than me now,"says .Jolie about watchlng Cuban,English and her native French into its own uniquesound. the frlm. maybethat's o "But becauset\,4ariane told me she o "l studiedher accent,"says Jolie- "lt's a reallyhard accent. And thoughtit was good Shehas given me herblessing." a the way shespeaks - she hasa rhlthm. tt was stange becauseI o Michaelcilz t--
o 3 Danny's old afticles and read about him iane did a great job of telling the story in " efforts in the Middle East Longbe- "But also I think there rs a bigger mes- the book She gave us the story inside her fore the film was in the works, she sage in this We are at a time in our lives house of this small group of people who and Pitt visited Pakistan after a dev- where there is so much fear and there is became friends, and just enough of the in- astating earthquake, in the hope of so much anger And it's hard for people to vestigation and what Pakistan was like " refocusing = media attention on that z calm down enough lo focus on having a As for Jolie, being faithful to Mariane's country's plight n dialogue and understanding the ftlll infor- story was easy. { "I think it's a very balanced film, @ mation, and tlylng to have a real compre- "The book is beautiful," she says "Dan- md I don't think t here's any rea- hensive approach to f,ndsolutions And I uy was very much in love with Mariane, son lo feel that any one group is go- think Marime is a great example .winter of that " and Mariane was very much in love with ing to be so upset about this and feel For director Michael bottom Damy. They both would have been great that way," says Jolie "It does make f ('Welcome to Sarajevo," "The Road to parents togetheL He spoke to her tummy me want to go back o there all the o Guantanamo"), the goal was to have a Iand their soon-to-be-born child] probably more, and I miss it I've been there documentary-like focus on the facts of every day she was pregnilt, and notjust three times and have a deep love c a what happened in the tense days when the day he left " for that part of the world, and I'm o Daniel might still have been saved Jolie sincerely hopes the film's blunt^ very saddened to see how every day ! "We talked to other people who were ness about the facts of the case won't im- it seems to be breaking more md N linvolved]," says Winterbottom "But Mar- pede her desire to continue humanitarian nlore apart." a o !