As you know, the end of summer brings a lot to be excited about for film fans. The cool weather (which is always a plus, at least in this writer’s mind), fall film festivals, and the huge influx of films deemed “awards contenders.” While a great deal of these films might be garbage, this is the time of year where Top 10 lists are made. And with that, we’d like to introduce you to one of these films that is trying to be a touching, powerful piece of film that will land some coveted trophies — “A Private War.”
As seen in the first trailer, “A Private War” stars Rosamund Pike (really trying hard for her Oscar nom) as the real-life journalist Marie Colvin, as she becomes embedded in some of the harshest war-torn countries. It’s during one of these missions that she’s wounded and now wears an eye-patch and suffers from extreme PTSD.
However, even with the incredible true story and a lead actress giving it her all, perhaps the best part of the trailer is when you find out the film comes from Oscar-nominated director Matthew Heineman. For those not aware, Heineman is the filmmaker responsible for docs “Cartel Land” and “City of Ghosts.” And it looks like the director is bringing his gritty documentary shooting style to this film.
“There’s nothing fraudulent about what we did,” Pike said in an interview with EW. “I think that’s a huge credit to [director] Matthew [Heineman]. I think we captured it as nearly you can — the truth — without it being an actual documentary.”
“A Private War” also stars ’50 Shades’ actor Jamie Dornan. The film has the prime release date of November 2 in limited theaters.
Here’s the synopsis:
In a world where journalism is under attack, Marie Colvin (Rosamund Pike) is one of the most celebrated war correspondents of our time. Colvin is an utterly fearless and rebellious spirit, driven to the frontlines of conflicts across the globe to give voice to the voiceless, while constantly testing the limits between bravery and bravado. After being hit by a grenade in Sri Lanka, she wears a distinctive eye patch and is still as comfortable sipping martinis with London’s elite as she is confronting dictators. Colvin sacrifices loving relationships, and over time, her personal life starts to unravel as the trauma she’s witnessed takes its toll. Yet, her mission to show the true cost of war leads her along with renowned war photographer Paul Conroy (Jamie Dornan) to embark on the most dangerous assignment of their lives in the besieged Syrian city of Homs. Based on the extraordinary life of Marie Colvin, A Private War is brought to the screen by Academy Award-nominee and critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker Matthew Heineman in his pulse-pounding narrative feature debut.