Behind the Camera, but Still the Star

Once the red carpet follies were over, the war correspondent Christiane Amanpour introduced the film, calling it “remarkable and courageous” while warning that there was “no way to sugarcoat” the atrocities it portrays. The afterparty, at a nightclub high atop a hip New York hotel in the meatpacking district, complete with the usual supercilious doormen, rotating disco ball and thumping music, was co-sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations and the human rights group Women for Women International. That was the atmosphere on Monday night at the New York premiere of “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” a harrowing look at the fratricidal Bosnian war of the 1990s: an unusual convergence of foreign policy seriousness and Hollywood glamour. But that is the way that Angelina Jolie, who wrote, directed and co-produced the film, operates these days.

Even as big as cynic as I am has to concede that a Hollywood star shining some of her light on important issues is a good thing, but I can not get past the exploitation. Jolie makes a movie about ethnic cleansing, and then they have a fancy party guarded by supercilious doorkeepers. She does the same thing elsewhere: she traveled to Cambodia, I think, for humanitarian reasons (as the catchphrase goes), then has a picture of her in a canoe in a commercial for Louis Vuitton. I mean, c'mon.


As she views it, her celebrity is both blessing and burden. She is on the cover of Newsweek this week and is scheduled to appear on “Charlie Rose” this month, trying in every appearance to get the public interested in her film and the issues it raises, including rape as a war crime and the ethics of international intervention.

Granted, her celebrity lets her get things done that others could not.

But she also noted that “with certain outlets and certain reporters it is an uphill battle” to deflect focus away from her and onto her film and its cast. Indeed, on the red carpet on Monday night, cast members had to field questions about what it was like to work with Ms. Jolie and how much time her children spent on the set. And then there was this: “Angelina has a lot of tattoos. Did you see them?” 

Life by fame, suffer by fame.