Angelina Jolie has said that she could not imagine anything worse than losing a child, when discussing her new film Changeling.

Directed by Clint Eastwood, the movie is based on the real-life story of working class single mother Christine Collins (Jolie), whose nine-year-old son Walter goes missing.

Five months later a child claiming to be the boy is returned and police are eager to bask in a public relations coup of reuniting mother and son. Christine takes the boy home, but knows in her heart he is not Walter.

The film is set in Los Angeles in 1928 and tells how the woman’s invincible spirit brought down a police department and ushered in a new era of equality. She finds an ally in community activist Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich). In her search for answers, Christine becomes an unlikely heroine for those who have been swept aside.

Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival where the film is showing in competition, Jolie said: “To lose a child, I can’t imagine anything worse, especially not knowing the fate of that child.”

Jolie also paid tribute to Eastwood as being an “amazing” boss and a “great leader”.

Eastwood talked about the serial killer element in the film, saying it was more devastating because it was a paedophile situation.

He said: “Crimes against children are to me the most heinous crimes that there are. It’s an important subject to take up but it’s not going to be the last story like this in history.”

Eastwood said the film showed how one woman brought down corruption through her “tenacious attitude”.

Asked why he did not act in the film, Eastwood said: “There was just no role for me. I’m gradually working my way round to spending more time behind the camera than in front. It’s something that’s an inevitability.”
Source: The Press Association