Longing and Belonging...

Two very powerful words, which almost sum up the general feeling of two hard-hitting movies I recently saw. Both movies are based on their namesake books - while Atonement is a novel by Ian McEwan, A Mighty Heart is a memoir by Mariane Pearl.


Atonement is the story of two people in love, but having to part ways due to the exaggerated imaginations of a little girl. It is the story of how the young girl realises her folly and attempts to re-unite them and relieve them of their longing, their pain and their angst. The story is set in a rustic English background, where having studied together, Cecilia (Keira Knightley), the daughter of an uppish class family, and Robbie (James McAvoy), the son of the household servant, fall in love with each other. However, Cecilia's younger sister Briony, has a queer imagination, and misinterprets situations where Cecilia and Robbie are together to such an extent that she begins to believe that Robbie is a sex maniac. And when her cousin is molested in the house gardens, she testifies that Robbie was responsible. Robbie is hauled away by the police.

Years pass, and Briony becomes a nurse, but having realised her folly, she is constantly tormented by the guilt of accusing Robbie, and hence depriving her sister the love of her life. The story is about how she redeems herself and puts an end to the lovers' longing for each other.

James McAvoy brings to life the English worker - the mannerisms, the ruggedness and the feel. Keira surprisingly, does not stand out as much as she did in her Pirates series.


A Mighty Heart is the story of angst, anxiety, uncertainty and grit of a woman, a pregnant woman, whose husband is kidnapped by terrorists. Mariane (Angelina Jolie) and Daniel Pearl (Dan Futterman) are in Karachi investigating the shoe-bomber case while Daniel is lured by the terrorists by arranging an interview with Sheikh Gilani. The story closely follows the plans of action taken by the CIA, the American government, the Pakistani government and the involvement of an alleged double agent from the British Secret Services Agency MI6. It showcases the strong network of the terrorists at the grassroot level and how the entire intelligence was caught unawares, leading to the capture and subsequent murder of Pearl. Though taut and fast paced, somewhere there is a feeling of something not being told to the viewer - there is very less of Danny, and more of the confusing trail of people investigated in the time leading to and after his kidnapping. While it is true to some extent, considering that this is Mariane's account of things that happened, an account of things to whose memory she will attach her belongingness; still it leaves you somewhat hungry for details.

Angelina gives a good performance - but somehow there are too many characters coming in, and none has enough screen presence to make a lasting impression. Not Dan Futterman, not Jolie, not Archie Panjabi, not Irrfan Khan, not Will Preston. None. The interiors and immediate locations of the house the Pearls lived in at Karachi were actually shot in Pune, while I was there. However, the sets have been made up to look like it resembles Karachi. There are a couple of cityscape shots, but they are too fleeting to recognise.


Note - I got to watch A Mighty Heart at The National Theater, London. A friend of mine is a member of The British Film Institute, and had arranged the tickets to the preview.