Review of A Mighty Heart (2007) by Ana B — 24 Mar 2012

Drama/thriller depicting true facts: the murder of Jewish Daniel Pearl, an American journalist killed by Al-Qaida agents in Pakistan. The events presented in the movie are based in the memoir of his widow Mariane, and tells us of her husband kidnapping and the manhunt that followed. It show us a bunch of people frantically searching for answers and looking for clues, from American diplomats to Pakistani police and international journalists.

It is a good account of his death but, personally I would have liked to see more of his life which it is only roughly sketched.

This film really puts Pakistan in the spotlight giving us an insight into the culture and events that are shaping this nation. Contrary to you might think of it, not all is negative, the job of the Pakistani police was praised and the fact that most victims of terrorism are Pakistani was underlined.

Cinematographically is a very dynamic film -moving backwards and forwards between the recent past, the kidnapping and the manhunt- with believable performances from everybody involved. Not a bad attempt to illustrate a case that occupied the newspapers during weeks. Unfortunately Al-Qaida actions continue to shock us, 9 years after this event and 5 years since the film release.