Thursday, April 19, 2007

Reel People: Angelina Jolie is Mariane Pearl

The movie is A Mighty Heart, directed by Michael Winterbottom, based on the book by Mariane Pearl (A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl)

Mariane van Neyenhoff, was born in France July 23, 1967, of Afro-Cuban and Dutch ancestry. She was a freelance journalist who met her husband Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter in 1998, while he was in Paris on assignment. Mariane and Daniel married in 1999 and lived in Bombay, India where Daniel was the South Asia bereau cheif for the Wall Street Journal.

Early 2002, In an attempt to interview a Pakistani terrorist leader, Daniel was kidnapped. Using a hotmail account, the terrorist sent the United States a list of demands and threats with pictures of Daniel Pearl. Daniel Pearl was killed in Febraury of 2002 by decapitation, and a gruesome video was shot of the horrific events. At the time Mariane Pearly was five months pregnent with her and Daniel's child.

Three months after Daniel's death, Adam Pearl was born, just a few months before Pearl's killers were under trial and suspected leader of the kidnapping Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh was sentenced to death.

Mariane Pearl is one of the co-founders of the Daniel Pearl Foundation and is currently a reporter and colomnist for Glamour Magazine.

In the upcoming film, the role of Daniel Pearl will be played Dan Futterman (Capote's academy award nominated screenwriter).

Will this biographical film earn Academy Award winning actress Jolie some critical awards attention this year for her portrayal of this Real (Reel) Person?

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3 comments:

Glenn Dunks said...

I loved it when Thandie Newton said Angelina was doing "black face". Apart from Dan Futterman this movie doesn't really interest me at all.

Anna said...

You lost me at Angelina Jolie....

I am sure that I will see it because of the subject matter but I am sick of all the hype surrounding her and sometimes that can interfere with the story. Kind of like Tom Cruise.

Joanna Arcieri said...

When it was announced that "A Mighty Heart" was showing at Cannes yesterday, the first headline I read was: "Brangelina to attend Cannes" (something of that sort). She is essentially becoming the female Tom Cruise without the insanity... for now.