A Private War(2018)

R
Rated R for disturbing violent images, language throughout, and brief sexuality/nudity
1h 50m

Release Date: Nov 2, 2018 | Moderate

One of the most celebrated war correspondents of our time, Marie Colvin is an utterly fearless and rebellious spirit, driven to the frontline of conflicts across the globe to give voice to the voiceless.

Official Website

Releases

Original Release | Nov 2, 2018

Nov 16, 2018 | Moderate

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Box Office Results

Results

Opening Weekend US & Canada:
$60,491
Total US & Canada:
$1,633,208
Total International
$2,281,999
Total Worldwide:
$3,915,207

Current Showtimes

Your Location or

(U.S. Only)

Director & Top Cast

Matthew Heineman
Director

Matthew Heineman

Gallery

Technical Specifications

Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United Kingdom,United States

Language: English

Summaries

Plot Summary

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 front-lines of conflicts across the globe to give voice to the voiceless, while constantly testing the limits between bravery and bravado. She began her career as a war correspondent in 1986.In 2012, Marie is divorced and lives in London and still has sex with her ex-husband who is a writer himself. Sean Ryan (Tom Hollander) Is The Sunday Times' foreign editor and Marie's boss. Marie insists on going to Sri Lanka to interview a rebel leader, while Sean wanted her to go to Palestine. In Sri Lanka she reports on how Govt blocks aid to Tamil tigers-controlled areas in the North and whatever aid gets through is stolen by rebel armies. As a result, half the population is starving, and the other half is sick.After being hit by a grenade in Sri Lanka (while coming out of the rebel area), she wears a distinctive eye patch and is still as comfortable sipping martinis with London's elite as she is confronting dictators. She wins the foreign correspondent of the year award the same year.Colvin sacrifices loving relationships, and over time, her personal life starts to unravel as the trauma she's witnessed takes its toll. She realizes that her ex-husband is seeing other girls behind her back, but she refuses to sacrifice her career for her personal life. 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 in 2012.Marie meets Paul while covering the war in Iraq. Paul is a freelancer, so Marie convinces him to work with her and takes him to Fallujah for his first assignment. She and Paul find the locations of the mass graves left behind by Saddam's forces. Marie takes great risk by travelling ahead of the US military columns and tackling the Iraqi govt forces herself using fake IDs and loads of determination. Kate Richardson (Faye Marsay) is Marie's friend from the Sunday Times and Marie's protege. Marie teaches her to look at the human angel of the stories, instead of getting caught up in what the Govt wants the journalists to report on.Marie has bouts of depression and rage from all the human suffering she sees in the victims of war. She opens up to Paul about how she has had 2 miscarriages and that the starvation in the world compels her to eat, but she is paranoid about not being fat. She is fearful of old age, but also fears dying young. Marie returns to London but begs Sean to send her back into the field.In 2009, Marie travels to Afghanistan. Her military escort column is hit by an IED, with both military and civilian casualties. Marie meets Tony Shaw (Stanley Tucci) at a party in London. They hit it off and Marie starts seeing him on a more regular basis. in 2011, Marie travels to Libya and covers the atrocities committed by Gaddafi's troops who consider him as Allah. In 1 town, Marie finds more than 1000 women sexually assaulted by Gaddafi's soldiers as punishment for supporting the rebels. His forces also specifically target foreign journalists who report his attacks. In one of the attacks, Marie finds that her friend Norm Coburn (Corey Johnson) was killed in a RPG attack. Marie gets an interview with Gaddafi himself and accuses him of using his oil money to fuel attacks on his own population, in order to gain legitimacy in front of world powers by blaming the attacks on Al-Qaeda. Marie was there when Gaddafi was killed by rebels in a sewer where he was hiding.This finally leads to Marie accepting an assignment in Syria in 2012. She travels to Homs, an active war zone, under attack from Assad's army, which has trapped 28,000 civilians (mostly women and kids). She meticulously documents their stories and suffering. Her reports directly contradict the claim that Assad is bombing only terrorists. Sean wants Marie to leave the country, but she decides to stay put and do a live broadcast. She is one of the only western journalists in Syria when she does a live broadcast on CNN, highlighting Assad's assault on his own population. during the broadcast, Assad's forces triangulate her position and launch missile strikes which hit the building and ends up killing Maria. Paul survives. She died on Feb 22nd, 2012, in Homs. Over 500,000 Syrian civilians were killed after Marie's death.

Storyline

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. — Aviron Pictures