A Mighty Heart Page #4

Synopsis: On January 23, 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is to fly from Karachi to Dubai with his pregnant wife, Mariane, also a reporter. On the day before, with great care, he has arranged an interview in a café with an Islamic fundamentalist cleric. When Danny doesn't return, Mariane initiates a search. Pakistani police, American embassy personnel, and the FBI examine witnesses, phone records, e-mails, and hard drives. Who has him? Where is he? There's also the why: because of U.S. abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo, because of a history of Journal cooperation with the CIA, because Pearl is a Jew? Through it all, Mariane is clearheaded, direct, and determined.
Production: Paramount Vantage
  Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 17 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.7
Metacritic:
74
Rotten Tomatoes:
79%
R
Year:
2007
108 min
$9,093,521
Website
184 Views


by the American Army.

"If the Americans keep our countrymen

in better conditions

"we will better

the conditions of Mr. Pearl

"and all other Americans

that we capture."

Jang claims he's Mossad

and now they're claiming he's CIA.

These things they do to shock you.

They're asking

for the release of jet plane.

-Hello. Captain.

-Randall.

I need the original e-mail

so we can see the header.

Well, this is a copy.

The original

was sent to the Washington Post.

-I need the original.

-Here are the photographs.

-This is all of them right here?

-Okay.

This is the only document that came?

-When did you get this?

-Half an hour ago.

Can we get someone to figure out

what kind of camera this was?

Yeah, but it wasn't sent to the Journal.

-Are these Danny's clothes?

-No.

-Can you print this out for me please?

-This photo doesn't look real.

I think that's a doctored photo.

I don't think this is Danny.

Look at this,

you compare the dimensions here

with the dimensions here.

That's Danny.

-Let's send it off to the lab anyway.

-Do what you wish.

Dost, can you get on this right away?

We're gonna

have to get this to Washington.

-Hello?

-Mariane.

It's his mother.

It's Danny's mother. Hello.

Have you seen them?

-The photos of Danny.

-Yes.

-It's good news, Mariane.

-Yes.

It means Danny is alive.

Yes, of course he's alive. Yes.

The people here,

they don't think it's real.

They don't think they're really Danny.

Of course they are.

I recognize his hands.

Listen, they're going to

release him, okay?

I mean, no one would ever

want to hurt Danny.

You see that?

He's smiling.

He has a gun to his head and he's

smiling and he's telling me he's okay.

Yeah.

He says "f*** you" to them.

She'll be fine. She'll be fine.

I appreciate how difficult this meeting

is gonna be for you, Mrs. Pearl.

We need the Minister to authorize

a national force to look for Danny.

Just because he was taken in Karachi

doesn't mean he's still here.

Minister. Good to meet you.

-This is Mariane Pearl.

-How do you do?

Thank you for meeting with us.

Mrs. Pearl, let me tell you something.

There were 3,000 journalists in

Pakistan during the war in Afghanistan.

Not one of them got into trouble.

Danny and I

were two of those journalists,

so I'm sorry,

I don't understand your point.

Why did your husband

have to meet with these people?

He's a journalist.

I don't think this is the business

of a journalist.

Forgive me for correcting you,

but it is absolutely

the business of a journalist.

-Mrs. Pearl.

-Yes?

We do have information

that the Indian Intelligence Services

are behind this kidnapping.

You really believe that?

I don't think...

They are trying to embarrass Pakistan

by blaming Islamic extremists or the ISI

for the disappearance of an

American journalist. Don't you see it?

I think we must conclude at this point.

Mr. Bauman, I am slightly busy

and I do have some prior engagements.

Thank you. Mr. Bauman.

-Mrs. Pearl.

-Thank you.

-Thanks.

-Thank you, Mr. Bauman.

Have you seen this person?

I'm looking for somebody who

stayed here called Chaudhry Bashir.

Here is his number.

How long do we have to stay here?

Until we find him.

I'm sorry I was unable to come

sooner. I've been away.

But I have here a list of all the calls

that Danny made from the 19th.

Didn't you meet with Danny

the day that he was kidnapped?

That's right. Danny told me

he was meeting with Gilani.

In fact, while he was with me,

he received two phone calls.

Right.

Right, I'll be there.

We work with telephone numbers.

We start with Danny's number

and Arifs,

Imtiaz Siddique's and Bashir's.

From these numbers

we find their contacts

and then we obtain the numbers

that they called and so on

until we find the kidnappers.

This is our business.

And let me assure you,

we know what we're doing.

They're sourcing the IP

from Bashir's e-mail, right?

That's what they're trying to do.

-And no luck so far?

-No.

We're coming to you from

the Los Angeles home of Daniel Pearl,

the journalist who has been

kidnapped in Pakistan.

A group calling itself

the National Movement for the

Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty

is claiming responsibility

for the kidnapping

and says it's hoping for better treatment

of US prisoners held in Cuba.

Excuse me, sorry.

Are you sure this is the right way?

This is the right way?

Yes, sir.

Do you have a map?

No. Sorry.

The scene outside the house

is out of control.

-We have to respond.

-I think you should handle most of it.

Great. We've gotten hundreds

and hundreds of requests.

You have an authority that

nobody else has to say who Danny is.

And they've already said

that he's Mossad.

They've already said he's CIA.

By not responding we're tacitly allowing

these things to go unchallenged.

We also have been talking

to Colin Powell.

Colin Powell has been talking

to President Musharraf.

-Asking him to do what?

-We also got a...

I'm sorry.

We've also issued a statement

saying that Danny

did not work for the Government,

that Danny did not work for the CIA.

The CIA has then agreed

to issue a statement confirming that.

-They're gonna confirm that publicly?

-Yeah.

-The CIA?

-Yeah.

We're doing everything we possibly

can do to make sure that Danny is safe.

Okay, we're on our way.

Masud, where's the coach station

for Muzaffarabad?

Is Arif going to Muzaffarabad?

From Pirwadhi Bus Station?

Is Arif here?

Seventy-three numbers have now been

recognized as possible suspects.

Our analysis

is beginning to yield results.

One of the numbers that Bashir called

is a land line in Lahore.

And that land line

belongs to a Sony TV dealer.

And the Sony TV dealer was frequently

calling another man in Karachi.

And this person was frequently calling

another man in Punjab.

Where is Hashim's house?

Where is Hashim's house?

Where is Hashim?

We want to search the house.

Why are you all coming in here?

Now, the important thing is,

Hashim also goes by the name of Arif.

-Arif?

-That's great.

-We have a photograph of Arif.

-You found Arif? Great.

But his family

claims he died in Afghanistan.

What?

He told Danny he was going to Kashmir.

Exactly.

-Well, is there a body?

-No. There's no body.

We do not believe

he's necessarily dead.

His group

has a lot of fighters in Kashmir.

We think

he may have gone to Muzaffarabad.

-Hello.

-Hey, Asra. It's John Bussey.

I just wanted

to give you guys the heads-up.

We got another e-mail

from the kidnappers.

I have a message. I have a message.

I have a message.

Yes, I have a message.

I have three different points

I wanna talk about.

Mariane, how's it going in there?

-Good. I'm coming.

-Okay.

-Okay. You look great.

-Thanks.

One moment.

That's good, that's great.

-Asra, come on. We should go.

-Yeah.

It's Danny's.

Okay, let's go.

That's perfect.

Jesus Christ.

Come on, you guys, let's go. Come on.

Come on, help us push.

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John Orloff

John Orloff is an American screenwriter known for creating and adapting complex stories in widely disparate genres. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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