Hollywood star Angelina Jolie takes on one of her most challenging roles to date in a film about Mariane Pearl, wife of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl who was kidnapped* and beheaded* by Islamic militants* in 2002.

“A Mighty Heart” premiered* in Cannes on Monday, and is one of the most talked about films at the Cannes Film Festival this year even though it is outside the main competition.

The movie unites Jolie with her partner Brad Pitt, the film’s producer, and is directed by Britain’s Michael Winterbottom, who has made films including “The Road to Guantanamo” and “9 Songs.”

It is based on Mariane’s book “A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Daniel Pearl,” which recounts* the events leading up to and following Daniel’s death when she was around six months pregnant*.

The film takes the viewers onto the streets of Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, where Daniel was kidnapped, although scenes involving Jolie were shot in India.

Jolie said she was nervous about getting the part of Mariane right.

“For me so much of why this film is important today was because I highly doubt there is anybody in this room who has more reason to hold hate inside herself than Mariane, and she doesn’t,” Jolie told a news conference.

“She is a very compassionate*, thoughtful person who looks to dialogue to change things, to make things better. That is, I think, a lesson to all of us.”

Jolie, 31, said being a young mother helped her understand what Mariane had gone through.

“Many people know this story but they forget that Mariane was five and a half months pregnant at the time,” Jolie said.

The Pearls’ child Adam was born after Daniel’s death.

Early reaction to “A Mighty Heart” has been positive*, with trade magazine Variety calling Jolie’s performance “a carefully considered portrait* of a woman caught between grief and hope.”

(SD-Agencies)