Angelina Jolie is one of the most famous actresses and filmmakers, and she has long shown a penchant for films dealing with war in an intricate manner. Indeed, her directorial career testifies to this claim, for four out of five films that she has directed fall under the war genre. Her latest film, Without Blood, goes even deeper into the aftermath of violence and probes those lingering pronounced emotional scars that remain behind.
Why Angelina Jolie Loves Making War Movies?
Angelina Jolie in Maria. Image Credit: Pablo Larrain, Netflix
In an interview at the Variety Toronto Film Festival Studio, Angelina Jolie talked about her interest in such strong stories; she noted that war often brings out the worst and sometimes the best in human behavior. She said, “Conflict tends to bring out absolutely the worst in our behavior toward each other and often the best, when those who fight against or rise above.”
It is through film that she sets about recording such extremities in the human condition, a process emanating from an abiding interest in the explanation of humanity. The humanitarian work of Jolie has played a great role in shaping her worldview, as she often contemplates the ‘whys’ of human conflict and how it shapes society. That is perhaps what drew her to projects that challenge her on both an emotional and creative level.
Without Blood introduces viewers to the darker side of human suffering. It is a film adaptation of a novel by Alessandro Baricco, where there is a woman who confronts her father’s killer years later. Set in Mexico, Jolie used the cultural and historical backdrop to amplify the emotional potential of the film, with Salma Hayek and Demián Bichir as two of the cast members. Such is the violence that the story focuses on the emotional scars of war versus violent acts committed during one. Thus, it gives a diversified take on trauma and survival.
Jolie has always been candid about the issues she encounters as an artist, more so when dealing with emotionally heavy roles. During the same interview, she related how much she dreaded shooting the role assigned to her in Without Blood. “I was afraid to play this part,” she admitted. For the pain that the character goes through throughout the movie, Jolie needed to throw herself completely into the character’s pain-a prospect that actually terrified her. She says that the emotional turmoil had to be maintained for the entire shooting and without the luxury of emotional release. This fear, however, overcame when Jolie began seeing herself and her personal traumas in this character. “I started seeing how it connected to so many women, even if you’re not post-war. We’ve all been tossed aside and not seen or abused in one way or another.” In light of this, the character became an avatar with which Jolie was able to travel into larger realms of trauma, resilience, and female strength.
She was very attached to the role personally, and it is for that reason she felt tapping into something so universal because she pushed through her fear. In fact, despite the uniqueness of the setting or context, Jolie’s films are able to hit a deeper level with audiences, as she is often able to connect universal human experiences with personal struggles.
Angelina Jolie’s Disillusionment with the Global System
Angelina Jolie. Image Credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Prolific in the film industry and an immense contributor as a humanitarian, Angelina Jolie seems to remain really concerned about the state of the world. Jolie expressed frustration over the ongoing fight for human rights during an acceptance speech for the TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media. She reflected upon her efforts and said, “After pushing for basic human rights for all people, only to see the reality worsen for so many, I feel part of the failure of the system.” (Via Deadline)This quoted statement epitomizes responsibility and disappointment due to injustices still clawing at the edge of society.
While Jolie has spent years advocating for those affected by war, violence, and human rights violations, she acknowledges that much more work is needed. Disillusioned with this turn of events, she can still believe in the medium of the cinema as an enabler of empathy and understanding. In this respect, she attempts through her films to bridge the gap between personal suffering and the shared human experience as a means of allowing audiences the opportunity to contemplate the results of conflict: the shared nature of human pain. Her work is bathed in hardship and loss, yet it embodies a deep and true reflection of the human spirit’s resilience.
Without Blood shows Jolie’s commitment to storytelling that is entertaining yet inspiringly reflective of some of the most profound issues affecting humanity today. She does, through her films, continue to express the impact of war on individual persons, even as she presses for more empathy and understanding in a world that sorely needs those values.
