However, their story, which happens to be the premise of The Mighty Heart, has all the making of a terribly melodramatic Hollywood potboiler, which could so easily make the Pakistanis out to be the villains and Mariane Pearl a hero. One can almost see Sally Field as Mariane, howling the entire Pakistani system down.

Thankfully, director Michael Winterbottom refuses to do the obvious. Instead, he takes the story to a different place altogether. He fleshes it as what can be best described as a docu-drama with a stark, claustrophobic feel, which leaves the audience almost breathless. He also adopts a very distanced approach of storytelling, refusing to infuse any kind of warmth on the screen, leaving the audience with very little emotional connect.

Winterbottom, it seems, is distracted by the drama of everyday life around him. A Mighty Heart scores, because he chooses the brave directorial approach of relying on form rather than the plot. A dicey proposition, which in this case more than pays off. The bustling metropolis of Karachi overflows on the screen, morning azaans fill the air and pathan-suit clad men walk down familiar streets (which in many cases happens to be India), squealing kids play cricket in gullies, while the story unfolds almost noiselessly. Pretty much like the steely, Mariane (an almost unrecognisable Angelina Jolie), who doesn’t invite any kind of attention to herself.

In fact, Jolie’s Mariane is no mean achievement. Not only because she sports a very authentic-looking wig, and perfects the French accent, but also because the actor breathes a rare empathy to the role which even Mariane, the person found, “believable”. Moreover, Winterbottom, makes a concious effort not to focus on any particular character, making them incidental pawns in the larger scheme of things— they are all players who end up being hapless victims in the hands of destiny.

An entourage of able performers, including the ever-dependable Archie Punjabi as Pearl’s faithful aide Asra Nomani, and the intense Irrfan Khan as Captain, the Pakistani CID officer who investigates the case, adorn the cast of the film.

But it’s the subtext of the film which makes it special. As Pearl’s tragedy is played out in front of us, we are constantly reminded, through distracted camera angles, of the life beyond, of greater losses and smaller joys.