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| A Mighty Heart: Thoughtful Meditation on Hate | |
 by Richard Silverstein, August 1, 2007
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I saw A Mighty Heart last night, the movie about Daniel Pearl's abduction and murder, and I was surprised. First, I liked the movie and expected not to. Second, it was not the anti-Muslim screed I'd expected it to be. If anything was a subject made for exploitation Hollywood style it was this story. An American-Jewish reporter goes to Pakistan to report on the teeming world of Islamic extremism. He goes seemingly with an open mind and American values of inquisitiveness and tolerance. His values are met by jihadi hatred, kidnapping and ultimately beheading. Could you have any better recipe for a suspense potboiler full of leering, evil Arabs?
Yet, Michael Winterbottom the director, chooses to avoid this obvious pitfall (and he faces many others as well). He decides he is going to try to write a story about two idealistic children of the world (Daniel and Marianne Pearl) thrown into the maelstrom of third world poverty, desperation and religious hatred. Despite being tested in the deepest and most painful ways it is possible for a human to be tested, the Pearls both retain their humanity intact. This is a hopeful movie. But its hope doesn't come cheaply or easily. It is hope wrested from violence and suffering. Perhaps this is the only type of real hope there is--hope based on adversity.
The main element of this film is confusion. Everything and everyone is a swirl of movement and emotions. Hardly anything remains in one place very long. The camera sweeps through the teeming streets of Pakistan's fetid urban centers providing the full panoply of human energy and misery. The crowded slums actually become a character in themselves in the film. Winterbottom does this in an ingenious way. He doesn't really have to tell you about the social conditions in third world Muslim countries that serve as the breeding ground for Islamic extremism. No characters have to engage in long conversations about it to explain it to the audience. The camera does it for you.
But there is one element I felt the filmmaker didn't explore fully enough. You have to admit that the decision by a young American Jewish journalist to accept an assignment in Pakistan, hotbed of some of the most rabid anti-Israel, anti-western sentiment in the world, strikes one as quixotic or perhaps even nuts. Why did Pearl do it? What were his reasons for taking this assignment? What was the Wall Street Journal's thinking in making this assignment?
I'd like to know more about Daniel Pearl. What did he believe both as a journalist, a Jew and human being. What were his private thoughts about the imams, sheikhs and jihadis he covered in Pakistan? The movie doesn't covey much of this and I wish it did more. It would've explained much to me that is lacking in the motivations of the key characters.
On a less momentous note, I wish the character of the Pakistani police inspector had been more explosive and energetic. The role as written portrays a genial, humane, soft-spoken man. What about someone who shrieks, who loses his temper, who hits people, who curses, who is wily, but still retains his humanity? Personally, I think it would've added to the drama of the situation.
I was struck by one element of the plot. At the end in voiceover, Marianne Pearl tells us that just before he was beheaded Daniel looked into the camera and said he was a Jew and that a street in Bnei Brak (Israel) is named for his grandfather, who founded the town. This is Pearl reaching back into his Jewish soul for something he is proud of, something that will mark his life, something he can leave after his death for others to know what was important to him as he faced his fate. It was also the ultimate act of rebellion against his captors--saying to them: "you can kill a Jew, but my grandfather helped build a Jewish country and it will live on after me despite your hated and violence."
I am grateful that A Mighty Heart didn't lapse into parody or propaganda. It portrayed a confusing, multi-faceted event with admirable nuance and emotional complexity.
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I am a Jewish blogger living in Seattle with my wife, three children and dog. I write in Tikun Olam about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jewish culture, religion and music. I've also created Israel More... |
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François Blumen...
Wao, if it weren't for this post,
I would never have thought that this film was a fiction, based on a romance novel!
Pants Wearer
Scripted
From what I read about Daniel Pearl's murder and the movie, it wasn't so much a story about him as it was about Marianne, and therefore it was much easier to skirt those pesky Jewish-Muslim connections.
And given that his beheading was taped by his killers, do you really think Daniel said those things on his own? His last words, unfortunately, were scripted by the people who murdered him, to emphasize the connection between their actions and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Maybe Marianne's search for help and answers was confusing and multi-faceted, but there was a heartless clarity to Daniel's kidnapping and death.
Elvis Baldwell
A mighty fart
This movie was a real disappointment. marianne pearl played by the Israel hating Angelina Jolie, portraying Daniel Pearl being murdered by cuddly Muslim terrorists. The movie would have a better plot if it was revealed that Marianne Pearl hired the terrorists "oops -freedom fighters" to off her husband to get his life insurance policy. Even then, it would be a b film. Dont watch it-buy cigarettes instead- they are less harmful.
This blog is getting realy boring-reprinting blogs from Richard Silverstein shows a definite lack of originality. Ebay is a much better way of spending your time
Anonymous
relax Elvis-its called
relax Elvis-its called recycling. The younger generation has a problem with creativity, so the best they can do is recycle. Thats why its called the Daily shvits. Finding something original every week is causing them to shvits. It would be nice if something of Silversteins could be turned into something useful. Silverstein claims to be a zionist, yet he is a fan of Norman Finkelstein and Assme Bishara. Kind of like sponsoring a smokathon for the American Lung Association with Marlboro as the major sponsor
richards1052
My fan club arrives...
You're always welcome to submit your own work to Jewcy's editors if you think you can do better. I'll put my own original work up against yours anyday in terms of whose would have more originality. BTW, what tired arguments do you come up with to diss the posts I'm writing here which ARE original?
No, Silverstein IS a Zionist. Though because I'm not YOUR kind of Zionist, I'm no Zionist. That's not what I call Zionism. That's what I call chauvinism and extreme nationalism. I am not a 'fan' of Norman Finkelstein--though I, along with most of the academic community, feel he was treated unjustly by DePaul University and The Dershbag.
Richard Silverstein
Tikun Olam (blog)
Elvis Baldwell
Not all of us have trust
Not all of us have trust funds that allow us to blog all day without working. Ur writings clearly support FInkelstein and Bishara, but you have not presented your version of what Israel should be. If it is a version with Finkelstein as PM and Bishara as president, you are no zionist. How can you be a zionist when nothing that Israel does is positive. Show us from ur writings one example of one positive thing about Israel. I would rather hear on this blog from Khaled Mashaal because he is more honest. Portraying you as a zionist is like portraying Heidi Fleiss as an advocate of abstinence
richards1052
Not all of us have trust
You're actually quite funny (unintentionally). In yr. last comment I was fabulously wealthy fr. secret Saudi financing. Now, I have a trust fund. Sorry to disappoint. But I do wish you were as interested in my personal life as I am in yours--which is to say: not at all.
Get up off yr lazy a...tush & do the work yrself. My blog is publicly available & Google is yr friend. Use it by searching for the subjects you claim I've never addressed (btw, I've addressed every single one of the issues you claim I haven't). I'm under no obligation to prove anything to you.
Richard Silverstein
Tikun Olam (blog)
Anonymous
Actually "Little Dickie" Silverstein is a Vile Anti-Semite who
wants Israel destroyed, endorses the worst Arab terrorists and jihadists, and is a borderline neo-nazi. Actually, almost no one in academia, besides the most outright anti-Semites, endorsed Norman Finkelstein's "right" to get tenure on the basis of his smearing Holocaust survivors, but that has not stopped Little Dickie from claiming otherwise. Dickie of course is himself NOT an academic.
To learn more about Dickie Richard Silverstein, go to http://www.israellycool.com/category/blog-world/
and www.richardsilversteins.blogspot.com
Silverstein is scum. He considers treason the highest form of "Tikun Olam".
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