A Mighty Heart (2007)

This is a movie I keep adding to the netflix queue, but have been afraid to actually see because I remember the outcome from the news and didn't want to watch a reenactment played out on screen.  It turned out the "F-bomb" was the reason for the rating and that the powers that be chose to follow Marianne Pearls tenant that a terrorists aim is to terrorize and, though they murdered her husband in a terrible way, they had not succeeded in changing her as a person or her world view.
      I can only imagine myself in this situation knowing I would be the sobbing woman on the floor from the beginning, but Marianne was a journalist.  She knew how to hunt down a story, keep the communication lines open between the policing authorities (in this case, Pakistan and CIA), she knew what the terrorists wanted and wouldn't give it to them (her fear).  Her response was so intriguing, I had to watch it through.  Was this her cultural heritage, her professional training, or her religious beliefs shining through?  Some said they felt it was fake and mechanical.  I found it inspiring.  She would not let go until there was no hope left and she didn't take out her own stress on the people who were helping her find her husband (there were a few moments of tension).  The people who knew her best understood her response.
     I cried when they told her Danny "didnt' make it".  When they told her how they knew for sure, I was sick inside with how she would ever get over that.  When she did her next interview and reminded the news reporter that 10 people had been kidnapped and killed that month in Pakistan and that 9 of them were Pakistani...that terrorists thrived in places where hope is lost, I was in awe.  Marianne knew how to seperate individuals from the masses instead of blaming everyone with a similar trait.  How different the world would be if we could all do that.
    In the end, I don't know who the title is truly for.  Daniel Pearl had a mighty heart of his own and showed it in his escape attempts, in his unapologetic declaration of his Jewish heritage and the pride in knowing there is a street in Jerusalem named for his grandfather...There is an interview where Marianne says that "forgiveness is not enough for me."  This doesn't seem to be because she wants vengeance, but because she wants a world where terrorist acts don't happen.  I think it's what she and Danny wanted in the first place -- to enable everyone to understand each other's honest perspectives, stripped of politics, so better choices could be made.
    May that day still come.

Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell

author: Elizabeth Gaskell

Mary Barton was a refreshing read after so many uninspiring books.   Mary, who is named after her mother, is a beautiful young girl growing up beneath the dense fog of an English factory town.  We are introduced to her on a Sunday walk, when everything is right with the world and pretty.  Her family is by no means wealthy (her mother has to ask her neigbors to bring their own dishes to share their evening meal), but they have sufficient for the day and each other. 
     It is a beautiful scene that, sadly, does not last.  Of course this life has more than enough trouble in it for tomorrow and their limited means of employment doesn't allow for saving against the storms.  And the storms do come.  And come.  And come.  And come some more.
     Mrs. Gaskell was the wife of a minister.  She had the priviledge of seeing poverty and plenty without being overtouched by either.  This was her first novel -- one that will break your heart -- and she may have been a little too aware of the audience she intended it for.  You see, Mrs. Gaskell apologizes and offers explanations for the choices of her desperate and starving characters.  Charles Dickens, who lived in terrible poverty, never apologizes for his characters.  But, Elizabeth Gaskell was out to change some hearts and open some eyes. 
     Reading this book, after loving the stories of Jane Austen for so long, I am baffled that Mrs. Gaskell's works are so often set aside by today's lover of historical drama.  She takes her characters through their teenaged years, self-discovery, regret, and maturity.  She rounds them out with faults, follies, and saving graces.  There is the breathlessness of the factory fire, the mystery of the murder, the tension of the courtroom.  All the while, inviting her audience in to question what they would do if they were walking in such worn and sodden shoes.
     "Mary Barton" the book, and the character by the same name, live through quite an adventure.  I didn't want to put it down. In the end, it is her own Christianity Mrs. Gaskell stumbles on.  No one in our time would believe in confessions and forgiving as portrayed here.  (Though it made me weep to hope that it was possible, even in someone elses imagination.) 

Fanaa (2006)

"It is easy to choose between right and wrong. But to choose the greater of two goods or the lesser of two evils…those are the choices of our life."

You know that Bollywood place I like to visit now and then?  Well, let's just say they've stepped up the game.  This movie held so much in it... the music, the color, the Hindi language and poetry, enough kohl to make everyone's eyes pop, love, heat, passion....oh, and helecopter chases, machine guns, sexy spy snowboarding down a hill so fast you want to cheer.   But, wait, he's the terrorist, right?
   Rehan (Aamir Khan) and Zooni (Kajol) meet in Delhi.  Zooni is blind but also the main vocalist for a special Indian Independance day production at the palace of the prince.  All of her girlfriend's are joking about meeting the prince and falling in love, but she can't keep her senses away from the intriguing tour guide (Rehan).  He warns her about himself, calls himself a devil, tells her she will die in the wake of the storm he leaves behind, etc.  But, she can't get past the budding love she feels for him.  In the end, she wins his heart. And just as they are about to be married, he dies in a terrorist explosion...
    Intermission...  Really.  The movie is so long it needs an intermission.  I think this was for two reasons: a) the length of the film and b) to help the stunned audience transition from mourning the loss of the beautiful love affair to discovering that life was, perhaps, not so rosy after all.
    Now, I'm not going to give away all of the details, because I think it would ruin the effect. But, I have to say that movies like this are my favorite to watch.  All of the emotions of life were right there and just enough philosophy, familiarity, and oddity to make me question what I believe.  That's important.  So many times, we just live without even thinking about the thoughts or reasons behind what we do.  Our government and popular culture happily villify anything or anyone outside of the "norm". 
     Tell me, are all terrorists bad?  Our own founding fathers were labeled as terrorists by King and country until they gathered enough support to make their voices heard.  Then they were patriots.  The sad news is that technology and advances in weaponry have made it so that too many people suffer all at once for someone's cause. 
     The title "Fanaa" is translated from Hindi to English as "Destroyed in love"...a beautiful sentiment referring to the death of your former self as you give your heart to another.  From Arabic, fanaa is translated as "annihilation."  Both translations fit this film. 
     

Jill Grover Pink

I have a friend that is one of those influential people in helping me grow up.  She takes the stereotypical "farmer's wife" and chucks the pitchfork out the window, then wraps it in hot pink ribbon with zebra stripes and paints a sign that says, "Fashion Grows Here."  Right there among the wheat and the tares, her love for her family and her faith in God burst out like a wheat kernel declaring JOY to the WORLD in vibrant color.  The association with what I call Jill Grover Pink and happy thoughts is so strong that I painted my toe nails just to help me get through this January steeped in gray.  Guess what?  It worked! 
      If you find yourself in need of some Jill Grover Joy, I suggest you check out her website http://www.jilliewillie.com/.  Cleaning house and getting things done has never been so much fun!  In the meantime, I'm gonna be rocking these toes of mine barefoot as if it were an Indian Summer even though it's still a cold day in February.

Salt (2010)

All I want for Christmas is my Evelyn Salt action figure.  Seriously, Angelina Jolie kicks a$$ in this role (and I don't use that word lightly.) This movie was viscious, from the torture scene in the beginning to not being quite sure when the floor would drop out from under you - literally.  Could you hit this woman again and really have her get up?  Yes.
     My sister and her husband saw this movie in the theatre with his best friend and his Russian national wife.  Good stuff.  She let them know that much of the Russian was totally accurate and that she is planning to infiltrate the US Judicial system (her reason for marrying her husband, the lawyer.)  After a movie like this, I can see why that shared confidence was a little unsettling to my sister.
     Other actors to watch in this movie?  Chiwetel Ejiofor, who won my eye as Lola in "Kinky Boots", plays Peabody - Inspector Peabody, even (which would be a mistake except that his name is rarely, if ever used in the film.  I had to use http://www.imdb.com/ to find it).  There is just a sincerity and an intensity in his facial expressions that draws a viewer in.  The other is Liev Schreiber (Ted Winter), the agent who is closest to Evelyn, introducing her to her husband and negotiating her release from a North Korean prison two years before. 
     A note to those who haven't seen it, the flasbacks are important here, try and keep up.  More important though?  The eyes.  Salt, Peabody, and Winter exchange more information with their eyes than with the limited dialogue throughout the film.  Oh, and keep a glass of water nearby.  The 48 hours portrayed here may leave you out of breath.