Jolie Pitt tapped grief over mother's death in 'By The Sea'

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[November 06, 2015]  By Piya Sinha-Roy and Rollo Ross

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Angelina Jolie Pitt spoke on Thursday 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 U.S. theaters on Nov. 13, is the third film that Oscar-winning actress Jolie Pitt 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, actress Marcheline Bertrand.

"I was missing my mother and I was wondering about her ... I thought she had a very unfulfilled life as an artist. It was very sad to me," Jolie Pitt told Reuters 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 neighbors, a young couple in the throes of passion on their honeymoon.

"By The Sea" showcases a very different performance from Jolie Pitt 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.

Jolie Pitt said that after 10 years of marriage, "you cannot just keep things in and you can't play it safe."

"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," she said.

(Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
 

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