The maverick director and the movie star
The English director Michael Winterbottom toils in relative obscurity, where he seems to thrive: He can't be pinned down and consequently is free to build a roving, unruly body of work.
In 14 years, he's made 15 completely different movies: a tense drama about the Serbo-Croatian war ("Welcome to Sarajevo" ); a superior Thomas Hardy adaptation ("Jude" ); a gold-rush Western ("The Claim" ); a delicately woven family drama ("Wonderland") ; a comedy about the '80s rock scene in London ("24-Hour Party People" ); a meta-movie version of Laurence Sterne's "Tristram Shandy "; a non pornographic, non narrative sex flick and concert film ("9 Songs"). All they ostensibly have in common are their maker's acuity and verve.
But in the last four years, Winterbottom has made three films tangled in 9/11's political fallout. He says he didn't intend them to constitute any sort of statement. But it's hard not to organize them into a kind of family. "In This World" (2003) followed two kids as they emigrated from Afghanistan to England. "The Road to Guantanamo " (2006) reenacted the circumstances that landed three British South Asian friends at the notorious American-run prison camp. And on Friday "A Mighty Heart " opens.
Set mostly in Pakistan, the film dramatizes the abduction and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl (Dan Futterman ) and the agitated months his friends, co-workers, and wife, Mariane (Angelina Jolie ), spend waiting for any word of his condition.
Based on Mariane Pearl's bestselling book and produced by Brad Pitt's production company, this stands to be Winterbottom's most noticed project. He recently came to Boston and discussed his new film, his internationally famous star, and his work ethic.
Q You've adapted some well known literary works. How did you choose Mariane Pearl's memoir?
A We were supposed to do a film in Italy , and then two years before a woman at [Pitt's production company] Plan-B, Dede Gardner , who's one of the producers, had given me Mariane's book, which I had read two years earlier, and was impressed. In about April of last year they called me up and asked if I was interested in making a film. They had a script but wanted to take another go at it. But it was tricky because I had just finished "Road to Guantanamo," which was also involved in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. The time wasn't perfect, but I really liked the book.
Q So doing "In This World," "Road to Guantanamo," and "A Mighty Heart" all in the same region wasn't a conscious choice?
A Maybe there were certain similar impulses to why we made "In this World" and "Road to Guantanamo," although they're different in many ways. I think in this case those films were a factor in why I got offered this film. One of the things that appealed to me about ["A Mighty Heart"] was I thought Mariane's book gave an impression of Pakistan, which was very similar to my impression as an outsider in Pakistan. But it's a double-edged sword, because although I like Pakistan and think there are a lot of great stories [there], having just made "Guantanamo" I'd almost rather have made the film in Italy.
Q But did you feel a certain continuity returning to work there -- not just physically but psychologically?
A I think the Guantanamo film and this share certain elements. They're both about people who get caught up in the aftermath of 9/11 and the extreme reactions of both sides, the violence of both sides. Clearly, the story of the three guys headed to Guantanamo was happening at about the same time that Daniel Pearl was being kidnapped. Both are, in a way, responses to the war in Afghanistan, which was a response to 9/11. They both share the same time, the same place, and a lot of the same reactions. People like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , who claimed responsibility for the killing of Daniel Pearl, they had been in Guantanamo -- Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is still there. So there were all sorts of connections between those stories. But in the end, the prosaic reason is they offered me the film, and I said "yes."
Q Given the subject matter, the politics here are muted. Was being overtly political a concern, particularly in the manhunt and investigation sequences?
A Most of the film is about Mariane's reaction to what's happening outside and the small nucleus of people around her in the house, those relationships. One of the big messages of the film -- well, not messages, I hate messages -- but one of the things that Mariane is keen to point out and that all the other people in the house support is that people who didn't know each other before, it didn't matter whether you were Pakistani or Buddhist or French or American or Jewish, everyone was working together on the same team. "Road to Guantanamo" has more obvious political connections. But that's not the film we wanted to make this time. It's about Mariane and her husband being kidnapped.
Q You make movies without huge stars and here you have Angelina Jolie, one of the most famous women in the world, starring in this movie. Was it weird?
A Obviously, Angelina is one of the famous people you can think of. But I have to say in all honesty, from my point of view the whole thing was made easier by the fact that Angelina was in it. Angelina already knew Mariane. Angelina wanted to play the part. Mariane wanted Angelina to play the part. They're very similar in lots of ways, in terms of how they saw the world and what they wanted to do in the world. And of course there were loads of paparazzi trying to get photos of Angie, it's true. But she was fantastic on the set. I know this sounds boring, but she was so low-key. From the beginning Angelina was very conscious of her position. She brought all the different people in the cast and crew together. She was great with everyone. She said, "I'm going to be the Mariane of the set."
Q It's helpful for some moviegoers to understand a director by organizing his movies into categories. But your trademark is that you don't seem to have one.
A Most of the last 10, 12 years we've always been making a film. And so when you stop making one film, it's nice to make a different film -- not as a conscious decision but as a kind of pattern. The next film should be different. That's what I was saying before about time. This wasn't the perfect time. "A Mighty Heart" is more like "Road to Guantanamo" than it is like "Tristram Shandy." It would have been good to do something different.
Q You're in a tough position with "A Mighty Heart." You've got a story many people know and a type of movie that people expect a certain emotional payoff from. But you characteristically use a kind of documentary approach. The emotions aren't easy.
A One thing that's appealing about Mariane's book and in meeting Mariane in person is that she doesn't conform to the movie stereotype of the wife who's waiting at home for the husband. She's someone who refused to give in to those expectations of being the weeping wife on TV or refused to feel the fear and hatred she says the terrorists want her to feel.
Q I think people might be surprised at how unconventionally tough the movie is, how serene yet steely Mariane is.
A I've done quite a few films that are based on real stories. One of the attractions -- although there are lots of complications -- is that you have the justification for not doing the conventional, well-made film, three-act play, the beginning, the middle, the end, character arc. The obvious things that are part of the Robert McKee version of movie scriptwriting and filmmaking are irrelevant because they don't conform that way. Everyone I spoke with who stayed in the house with Mariane said that she was so strong and so in control of herself. The great thing is that Angelina knew Mariane and knew what a strong person she is and that she is a special person. From the beginning nobody wanted it to be a kind of weepy, TV-movie-of-the-week kind of melodrama.
Wesley Morris can be reached at wmorris@globe.com. For more on movies, go to boston.com/ae/ movies/blog. 
