‘By the Sea’ shores up Angelina’s grief

Film featuring Jolie and Brad Pitt for first time in 10 years about loss of her mother

LOS ANGELES: Angelina Jolie recently spoke about how she tapped the grief over her mother’s death into her film By the Sea, the first time for 10 years that she and her husband Brad Pitt appear on screen together.

“This film is at the core about grief, and that grief was from the loss of my mother, but in the end, I think this film is also about learning how to move past it,” she told the audience at the film’s Los Angeles premiere at the AFI Film Festival.

By the Sea, out in US theatres on November 13, is the third film that the Oscar-winning Jolie has directed following In the Land of Blood and Honey and Unbroken. It is the first time that she has acted in her own screenplay, written after the 2007 death of her mother, actor Marcheline Bertrand.

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“I was missing my mother and was wondering about her ... I thought she had an unfulfilled life as an artist. It was very sad to me,” she said on the red carpet. By the Sea follows writer Roland and former dancer Vanessa, who are trying to revive their marriage.

In an idyllic coastal setting, days and nights blur together with Roland stuck trying to find the words for his next book and Vanessa mired in self-induced torpor. They come together to spy on their neighbours, a young couple in the throes of passion on their honeymoon.

By the Sea showcases a very different performance from Jolie and her husband from the last time they paired up on screen, ten years ago in Mr & Mrs Smith, the action film that famously brought them together as a real life couple.

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Jolie said that after 10 years of marriage, “you cannot just keep things in and you can’t play it safe.” She added, “You’ve got a long life ahead of you and you’ve got to shake it up and sometimes, it’s wonderful to test yourselves and push each other.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th, 2015.

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