Knight at the Movies Archives
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Angelina Jolie lives up to her star reputation, Timothy Spall takes the lead in an offbeat character study
The events surrounding the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002 and his subsequent murder by terrorists
has to be one of the most gut-wrenching of the many examples of reporters who have put themselves in harm’s way only to end up
the story themselves. A Mighty Heart, the book relaying the events surrounding this tragedy by Pearl’s widow Mariane is gripping,
forthright and unsentimental. Not surprising, given Mariane Pearl’s own credentials as a foreign correspondent. Now comes a movie
that welds those emotions to the potent star quality of Angelina Jolie in the leading part. The result is a compelling film that’s like
watching a particularly grand Bette Davis performance without the grandstanding melodramatics.
A Mighty Heart also finally confirms what the tabloids and a series of okay but not particularly memorable leading roles have told us
is true: Jolie is a screen presence that is thrilling to watch. From the moment she broke through playing bisexual model Gia we knew
the gorgeous Jolie could act and with the Lara Croft Tomb Raider movies that she had the presence needed for big budget action
pictures. But she’s never really carried a movie alone until now. With this movie she becomes a full fledged movie star. One of
those old fashioned, mysterious mega watt movie stars, the kind they don’t make very often these days. A movie star that keeps a
tight lid on her emotions and says more with her eyes than with pages of dialogue. Jolie is in nearly every scene of A Mighty Heart
and like Helen Mirren in The Queen, only lets the intensity of her emotions out in either small irritable outburst or in private. When
the sobs of despair finally do come in great torrents of grief they are all the more heartbreaking to witness because of the
momentary loss of her iron control.
On January 23, 2002 while in Karachi, Pakistan Daniel Pearl (played by Dan Futterman) disappeared while trying to meet an alleged
terrorist leader. World attention focused on the story when news of his kidnapping became public. Public pleas from Pearl’s editor
(played in the film by out actor Denis O’Hare) and Mariane (who was pregnant with the couple’s first child) to the kidnappers were
ignored and nine days after being captured, Pearl was brutally beheaded in a videotape that was later leaked to the internet.
Director Michael Winterbottom’s film methodically goes through these events beginning with the last day the Pearl’s shared. We see
the contrast of the peaceful oasis of the gated house where the couple stayed with friends with the cacophony and swarm of poverty
stricken Karachi just outside those gates. We intuit that this was a smart, careful couple long used to carving out personal
sanctuaries in the midst of dangerous places so it’s no surprise that Mariane isn’t particularly worried at first that Daniel doesn’t
respond to her repeated attempts to phone him on her cell phone after he has failed to return home. As the movie progresses that
cell phone with its tiny light shining in the darkness of the Pearl’s bedroom becomes a private beacon of hope as Mariane presses
“send” over and over again just to hear Daniel’s outgoing message on voice mail.
These quiet moments – a housekeeper’s child silently playing underfoot while bureaucrats swirl around overhead, Mariane stepping
out into the courtyard of the house to catch her breath after a setback, a worried glance between two friends of the couple’s as some
disquieting news is revealed – provide an elegiac respite from the rest of the nuts and bolts story which shows us the “civilized”
media, embassy and CIA figures surrounding Mariane and the concurrent, intense investigation by the Pakistani authorities. The
detailed intricacies of all these agencies working together – the simple act of being able to provide enough electricity to power the
computers needed for the job – adds much to the authoritative feel of the movie.
Always, the workmanlike pace is elevated by Jolie’s enigmatic presence (and is aided by the complicated accent she adopts). She is
greatly supported by an international cast that includes Futterman (who is seen throughout in haunting flashbacks), O’Hare as the
boss, Archie Panjabi as a close friend and fellow reporter, and especially Irfan Kahn as the taciturn police captain determined to find
Daniel before it is too late.
Jolie has wisely chosen a film role that not only elevates her own star wattage but has the luck to be far from the standard female
movie star part. Mariane is no insecure bimbo, terrified wife, or love starved but lovable kook and she’s no helpless victim either.
The gossip rags will continue to eat up every move that the actress makes, given her real life match up with fellow beauty Brad Pitt.
But from here on out, based on Jolie’s work in A Mighty Heart the attention, at least with regard to her work, is certainly
understandable – and warranted.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
British character actor Timothy Spall is best recognized by film audiences for his character roles, particularly as Wormtail in the Harry
Potter series. But he’s gotten the chance to essay a starring part in Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman, the offputting story of the
infamous man known as England’s last hangman. Albert Pierrepoint followed in the footsteps of his father and was particularly
prolific as his tenure as England’s bringer of death occurred before, during, and after World War II which its huge crop of war
criminals that were hung after guilty verdicts were rendered.
Adrian Shergold’s dark, unsettling film shows us a man who is so expert at his work that he practically sings when he is
complimented on the speed with which he brings death to those judged guilty. Even his wife, expertly played by Juliet Stevenson, is
proud of her Albert. But as the years and the bodies pile up, Pierrepoint, not surprisingly, begins to feel deep conflicts about his
strange and distasteful specialty. Spall brings a quiet dignity to the role and suggests a sense of duty and pride in his work – both
reasons it becomes clear that explain Pierrepoint’s strange thirst for the job. Spall is equally fine in latter sections of the movie and
displays a face that is wracked with torment over what he has done. Apart from its repugnant subject matter (and yes, we see
numerous hangings) and within the confines of its small story, Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman is a well done character study of a man
who on the face of it spent a lifetime leaping before he bothered to look.
has to be one of the most gut-wrenching of the many examples of reporters who have put themselves in harm’s way only to end up
the story themselves. A Mighty Heart, the book relaying the events surrounding this tragedy by Pearl’s widow Mariane is gripping,
forthright and unsentimental. Not surprising, given Mariane Pearl’s own credentials as a foreign correspondent. Now comes a movie
that welds those emotions to the potent star quality of Angelina Jolie in the leading part. The result is a compelling film that’s like
watching a particularly grand Bette Davis performance without the grandstanding melodramatics.
A Mighty Heart also finally confirms what the tabloids and a series of okay but not particularly memorable leading roles have told us
is true: Jolie is a screen presence that is thrilling to watch. From the moment she broke through playing bisexual model Gia we knew
the gorgeous Jolie could act and with the Lara Croft Tomb Raider movies that she had the presence needed for big budget action
pictures. But she’s never really carried a movie alone until now. With this movie she becomes a full fledged movie star. One of
those old fashioned, mysterious mega watt movie stars, the kind they don’t make very often these days. A movie star that keeps a
tight lid on her emotions and says more with her eyes than with pages of dialogue. Jolie is in nearly every scene of A Mighty Heart
and like Helen Mirren in The Queen, only lets the intensity of her emotions out in either small irritable outburst or in private. When
the sobs of despair finally do come in great torrents of grief they are all the more heartbreaking to witness because of the
momentary loss of her iron control.
On January 23, 2002 while in Karachi, Pakistan Daniel Pearl (played by Dan Futterman) disappeared while trying to meet an alleged
terrorist leader. World attention focused on the story when news of his kidnapping became public. Public pleas from Pearl’s editor
(played in the film by out actor Denis O’Hare) and Mariane (who was pregnant with the couple’s first child) to the kidnappers were
ignored and nine days after being captured, Pearl was brutally beheaded in a videotape that was later leaked to the internet.
Director Michael Winterbottom’s film methodically goes through these events beginning with the last day the Pearl’s shared. We see
the contrast of the peaceful oasis of the gated house where the couple stayed with friends with the cacophony and swarm of poverty
stricken Karachi just outside those gates. We intuit that this was a smart, careful couple long used to carving out personal
sanctuaries in the midst of dangerous places so it’s no surprise that Mariane isn’t particularly worried at first that Daniel doesn’t
respond to her repeated attempts to phone him on her cell phone after he has failed to return home. As the movie progresses that
cell phone with its tiny light shining in the darkness of the Pearl’s bedroom becomes a private beacon of hope as Mariane presses
“send” over and over again just to hear Daniel’s outgoing message on voice mail.
These quiet moments – a housekeeper’s child silently playing underfoot while bureaucrats swirl around overhead, Mariane stepping
out into the courtyard of the house to catch her breath after a setback, a worried glance between two friends of the couple’s as some
disquieting news is revealed – provide an elegiac respite from the rest of the nuts and bolts story which shows us the “civilized”
media, embassy and CIA figures surrounding Mariane and the concurrent, intense investigation by the Pakistani authorities. The
detailed intricacies of all these agencies working together – the simple act of being able to provide enough electricity to power the
computers needed for the job – adds much to the authoritative feel of the movie.
Always, the workmanlike pace is elevated by Jolie’s enigmatic presence (and is aided by the complicated accent she adopts). She is
greatly supported by an international cast that includes Futterman (who is seen throughout in haunting flashbacks), O’Hare as the
boss, Archie Panjabi as a close friend and fellow reporter, and especially Irfan Kahn as the taciturn police captain determined to find
Daniel before it is too late.
Jolie has wisely chosen a film role that not only elevates her own star wattage but has the luck to be far from the standard female
movie star part. Mariane is no insecure bimbo, terrified wife, or love starved but lovable kook and she’s no helpless victim either.
The gossip rags will continue to eat up every move that the actress makes, given her real life match up with fellow beauty Brad Pitt.
But from here on out, based on Jolie’s work in A Mighty Heart the attention, at least with regard to her work, is certainly
understandable – and warranted.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
British character actor Timothy Spall is best recognized by film audiences for his character roles, particularly as Wormtail in the Harry
Potter series. But he’s gotten the chance to essay a starring part in Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman, the offputting story of the
infamous man known as England’s last hangman. Albert Pierrepoint followed in the footsteps of his father and was particularly
prolific as his tenure as England’s bringer of death occurred before, during, and after World War II which its huge crop of war
criminals that were hung after guilty verdicts were rendered.
Adrian Shergold’s dark, unsettling film shows us a man who is so expert at his work that he practically sings when he is
complimented on the speed with which he brings death to those judged guilty. Even his wife, expertly played by Juliet Stevenson, is
proud of her Albert. But as the years and the bodies pile up, Pierrepoint, not surprisingly, begins to feel deep conflicts about his
strange and distasteful specialty. Spall brings a quiet dignity to the role and suggests a sense of duty and pride in his work – both
reasons it becomes clear that explain Pierrepoint’s strange thirst for the job. Spall is equally fine in latter sections of the movie and
displays a face that is wracked with torment over what he has done. Apart from its repugnant subject matter (and yes, we see
numerous hangings) and within the confines of its small story, Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman is a well done character study of a man
who on the face of it spent a lifetime leaping before he bothered to look.
The Sting of Death:
A Mighty Heart-Pierrepoint: The Last Hang Man
6-20-07 Windy City Times Knight at the Movies Column
By Richard Knight, Jr.
A Mighty Heart-Pierrepoint: The Last Hang Man
6-20-07 Windy City Times Knight at the Movies Column
By Richard Knight, Jr.
