Fernando Meirelles's THE CONSTANT GARDENER

[arsaib4]

The Constant Gardener is a gripping and fascinating mixture of a requited love story and a political intrigue thriller, but more importantly, it delivers a potent message against the exploits of our corporate giants in Third World countries. Directed by Fernando Meirelles (City of God [2003]) and based on a John Le Carré's dense novel of the same name, the film concerns an uptight British diplomat named Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) who is leading a rather monotonous life with his plants until he meets an eccentric activist, Tessa (Rachel Weisz in an Oscar worthy performance). Tessa convinces Justin to take her along to his post in Kenya where she discovers malpractice from pharmaceutical companies who have ties with high-ranking political officials. With help from a Kenyan doctor (Hubert Koundé), she prepares a report of the wrongdoings and sends it through Justin’s friend and Head of Chancery (Danny Huston) to the High Commissioner (Bill Nighy) back in London without fully recognizing the consequences.

By employing an elliptical approach to his narrative, Meirelles’s transformation of his leading man, who by nature remained ambivalent about his wife and her cause early on, is graceful and proficient -- and it’s certainly helped by the fact that Fiennes has played similar characters before. Working with his City of God DP, César Charlone, Meirelles vividly portrays the poverty-stricken villages, but at times his stylistic flourishes still come dangerously close to becoming an exercise in strained picture-postcard aesthetics (one of the many problems his debut feature had). However, what’s encouraging is his reserve when it comes to violence and emotional conflicts, not to mention his handling of the narrative as it passes through multiple tones and genres. That’s not to say that The Constant Gardiner doesn’t indulge in broad strokes or even didacticism at times, but it still has a powerful and affecting resonance due to the pertinence of its overall agenda and Rachel Weisz, whose mere visage makes the film come alive.


Grade: B+

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*THE CONSTANT GARDENER (http://www.theconstantgardener.com) is now playing in theaters nationwide.

[wpqx]

I just saw the film, and I was a little disappointed. I'm one of those people who thought City of God was the best film of the year in 2003. I wasn't going to set my expectations THAT high, but I hadn't heard a bad review of this film yet. What I found in the film was that not only did I not really care, but I didn't think that it was entirely believable. We kept needing justification for the corporations to be evil, yet it never really did work for me. Plus the whole concept that Africa is alive and London/Europe is a depressing hell whole was amateurish. He made a distinct point of masking the colors in Europe and having evertying look radiant in Africa. True I believe his heart is with that Third World element, but he seems to be blindly attacking the "civilized" world.

Acting wise I think the film was quite successful, but I just didn't care about the story. It seems to easy to talk about the exploited underprivaleged.

[arsaib4]

Actually, I'm glad about reading your slightly negative response. You're right, on the whole the film is being overrated as it does have its share of flaws. Having said that, I think it worked well not only as a romantic thriller, but also as a conscious socio-political fare.

I've read the novel by Le Carré and it gets quite pointed at times. He seems rather angry in some passages and frankly it's hard to blame him if he truly believes that some of the practices do occur in those nations.

[oscar jubis]

The Constant Gardener is the second collaboration between City of God's director Fernando Meirelles and DP Cesar Charlone. It's based on a novel by John Le Carre. Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz, who appeared together in Istvan Szabo's Sunshine (2000), are superb as a rather mismatched couple. She dies during a trip to Africa. His investigation uncovers both the possibility of her infidelity and a conspiracy involving governments and pharmaceutical companies. Echoes of espionage thrillers like Silkwood and The China Syndrome brought into Graham Greene territory by the focus on the principals' romance.

The narrative structure alternates between past and present rather seamlessly. Meirelles and Charlone make frequent use of saturated film stocks, overexposure, highly mobile cameras and shifting focal planes to create striking visuals. The couple's first lovemaking and her departure to Africa are bathed in white light, positively conveying the significance of these events. The intensified color palette though, renders the African scenes so attractive, so"ghetto-chic", it becomes a distraction. During the last half hour or so, thriller elements appear to prevail over the conspiracy expose_ a gang assault on a Kenyan village, perfectly timed to coincide with the protagonist's visit, smacks of commercial calculation. These are quibbles though, The Constant Gardener is a good espionage thriller with an affecting romantic element.

[Howard Schumann]

THE CONSTANT GARDENER

Directed by Fernando Meirelles (2005)

Based on John Le Carré's novel by the same name, The Constant Gardener is a love story told in flashbacks of the growing understanding between two very different people as well as a political thriller that exposes the collusion between a pharmaceutical company and the British government. Buoyed by outstanding performances by Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz, the film propels us into its intricate world of intrigue and corruption with a combustible energy that holds our attention from start to finish. Shot in "City of God" style by director Fernando Meirelles, the film uses jump cuts, saturated colors, and a variety of camera angles to capture the kinetic energy of contemporary Africa while not pulling any punches about its poverty and exploitation by multinational industries.

The Constant Gardener opens in a remote area of Northern Kenya. Tessa (Rachel Weisz), the idealistic wife of Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), a laid back mid-level British diplomat and gardener has been found murdered. At first believing that his wife was unfaithful to him and was killed by activist physician Arnold Bluhm (Hubert Koundé), he soon discovers a broader possibility. It seems that Tessa had been on the verge of disclosing a far-reaching conspiracy by government and industry involving the use of local patients as guinea pigs to test a new drug called Dypraxa that had dangerous side effects. The drug, though designed to test for HIV, was destined to become a big money maker in the West as an anti-tubercular drug if positive clinical trials could be obtained and fatalities suppressed. Rationalizing the cover-up of the deaths, Quayle's boss Sandy Woodrow (Danny Huston) who is acting Head of the High Commission, cynically proclaims that "we’re not killing people who are not already dead".

Tessa's death radicalizes the once staid diplomat and he sets out to complete her work, traveling to London and Berlin to follow leads. Quayle soon runs afoul of Sir Bernard Pellegrin (Bill Nighy), a Foreign Office careerist who is working with Woodrow. They enlist Tim Donahue (Donald Sumpter) to follow him and make sure that he does not publish any details of the English and Kenyan government's complicity with the pharmaceutical giant. As the suspense builds, Quayle is harassed by threats and beaten as a warning in a Berlin hotel room. He receives welcome assistance, however, from Ham (Richard McCabe), Tessa's cousin in London and his son who is a computer whiz and knows how to find critical information on the Internet.

As he returns to Africa, he visits a village near the Sudanese border to track down the inventor of the drug, Dr. Marcus Lorbeer (Pete Postlethwaite) but must escape from an attack by a band of murderous tribesmen on horseback. As the process of discovery unfolds and his personal danger increases, Justin also realizes a deeper love for Tessa and appreciation of her high intelligence and commitment to making a difference. Though marred somewhat by distracting camera work and a too pat ending that deviates from the novel, The Constant Gardener succeeds not only by calling our attention to the exploitation of the world's poor, but by its depiction of a man's awakening to the discovery of his wife's faith in him and his own realization that he merits that faith.

GRADE: A-

NOTE: If you think the story is a bit over the top, consider that in Nigeria during a meningitis outbreak in 1996, New York-based Pfizer Corporation conducted tests of Trovan, then awaiting U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. A lawsuit, filed by 30 Nigerian families in U.S. District Court in 2002 under the Alien Tort Statute, contended that some of the children in the trial died and others suffered brain damage or other injuries. The plaintiffs said the drug maker did not adequately explain to the Nigerian families that the antibiotic was experimental, that they could refuse the treatment for their children or that other medicines were available. In a recent ruling, the judge said the plaintiffs did not have a claim under the statute. He said that a Nigerian court should handle the case. It will be appealed.

[arsaib4]

Thanks for the review and the additional note.

[Howard Schumann]

Originally posted by arsaib4
Thanks for the review and the additional note.
Youse welcome.