The Constant Gardener (on DVD)
The Constant Gardener is no match for director Fernando Meirelles’ masterpiece, City of God, but Meirelles does bring some freshness and one or two of his trademark styles to a formulaic Hollywood picture.
The movie mainly takes place in Africa and revolves around a British diplomat Justin Quayle (played by Ralph Fiennes)’s quest in finding who killed his wife, Tessa (played by Rachel Weisz). Along the way, Justin discovers British government and pharmaceutical industry’s sinister dealings in Africa and his ever deeper love for his now deceased wife. The Constant Gardener is too preachy in its political messages, too predictable in its plots and too unconvincing in its love story. Maybe because I have read many reviews about the movie’s surprising ending, I kept hoping something unexpected would happen the whole time I was watching it, but in the end everything turns out to be what I have suspected from the beginning. The love story between Justin and Tessa is quite thin for most of the movie. They are an odd couple and pretty much live their separate lives until Tessa’s death prompts Justin into activism. It is hard to see what attracts these two people other than their appearances.
Fiennes and Weisz are good, but not great in this movie. By choosing to act in movies with more substance, Fiennes has become a Tom Cruise for grown up women. His Justin is meek and passive during the first half of the movie, but in the second half he shows that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary deeds under unusual circumstances, and Fiennes manages the transition well. I have to applaud screenwriter Jeffrey Caine for not turning Justin into some kind of superhero like so many action thrillers do these days and even though the ending may not be surprising, it is believable and non-conforming to traditional Hollywood endings. (Of course, all the credits may have to go to John Le Carre, whose book the movie is based on. I have not read this book or any of Le Carre’s books, so I cannot assess how truthfully the movie has followed the book.) The movie has some of the most beautifully shot female nude scenes in recent movie history. Weisz is a lovely actress and her comfort and confidence with her body helps to add a touch of innocence to those scenes. Unfortunately, her Tessa is written too much as a saint and martyr for me to feel connected with her on screen. The most memorable performance for me is Bill Nighy’s bureaucrat, Sir Bernard Pellegrin. He has always been a versatile actor and in this movie he captures Pellegrin’s British stuffiness and aristocratic snobbishness to the bone.
Apart from an unimpressive story, the movie is a cinematic marvel for the eyes. Meirelles treats his movies like artwork and every frame in The Constant Gardener looks like a picture composition. The movie opens with Justin saying goodbye to Tessa in the airport. They are completely against the light and in the shadow. As Tessa and his friend walk toward their airplane, they start walking into sunlight, but Meirelles gradually puts them out of focus and leaves only Justin in the front and center watching them leave as if watching an oil painting. There are many such artistic moments in this movie. Meirelles also uses lighting to show different moods in the movie. He infuses all the flashbacks of Justin and Tessa with bright and somewhat dreamy light to reflect their happiness and out-of-this-world love towards each other. After Tessa’s death, when Justin roams around in his house and visits their old haunts, Meirelles casts a dark shadow over everything to go along with Justin’s somber mood and the scenes look like they were shot in black and white with just a taint of color.
I am glad that Meirelles shot the movie on location in Africa instead of some look-alike place. Africa and its people play an important role in this movie. The continent’s beauty, openness and barrenness, along with the warmth of its people and the plight they are in, are the heart and soul of The Constant Gardener. As shown in City of God, Meirelles clearly feels affinity to people of developing countries who have to struggle every day simply to survive. With the same technique he adopted in City of God, he uses a hand held camera to add a documentary feel to all the African scenes in the movie. His Africa provokes the same emotion his Rio slum did in City of God: real, desperate and moving.
The end of the movie echoes what Nick Nolte said to Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda. In explaining why the world will not intervene in the genocide in Rwanda, Nolte has a memorable line, “You’re not even a n_____. You’re an African.” It has been too long for us to close our eyes and cover our ears to shut off all the suffering and misery in Africa and despite the fact that The Constant Gardener is not a powerful movie, it does make us see and hear for at least two hours how lucky we are and how each of us may be able to change the world by helping one person at a time.
The movie mainly takes place in Africa and revolves around a British diplomat Justin Quayle (played by Ralph Fiennes)’s quest in finding who killed his wife, Tessa (played by Rachel Weisz). Along the way, Justin discovers British government and pharmaceutical industry’s sinister dealings in Africa and his ever deeper love for his now deceased wife. The Constant Gardener is too preachy in its political messages, too predictable in its plots and too unconvincing in its love story. Maybe because I have read many reviews about the movie’s surprising ending, I kept hoping something unexpected would happen the whole time I was watching it, but in the end everything turns out to be what I have suspected from the beginning. The love story between Justin and Tessa is quite thin for most of the movie. They are an odd couple and pretty much live their separate lives until Tessa’s death prompts Justin into activism. It is hard to see what attracts these two people other than their appearances.
Fiennes and Weisz are good, but not great in this movie. By choosing to act in movies with more substance, Fiennes has become a Tom Cruise for grown up women. His Justin is meek and passive during the first half of the movie, but in the second half he shows that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary deeds under unusual circumstances, and Fiennes manages the transition well. I have to applaud screenwriter Jeffrey Caine for not turning Justin into some kind of superhero like so many action thrillers do these days and even though the ending may not be surprising, it is believable and non-conforming to traditional Hollywood endings. (Of course, all the credits may have to go to John Le Carre, whose book the movie is based on. I have not read this book or any of Le Carre’s books, so I cannot assess how truthfully the movie has followed the book.) The movie has some of the most beautifully shot female nude scenes in recent movie history. Weisz is a lovely actress and her comfort and confidence with her body helps to add a touch of innocence to those scenes. Unfortunately, her Tessa is written too much as a saint and martyr for me to feel connected with her on screen. The most memorable performance for me is Bill Nighy’s bureaucrat, Sir Bernard Pellegrin. He has always been a versatile actor and in this movie he captures Pellegrin’s British stuffiness and aristocratic snobbishness to the bone.
Apart from an unimpressive story, the movie is a cinematic marvel for the eyes. Meirelles treats his movies like artwork and every frame in The Constant Gardener looks like a picture composition. The movie opens with Justin saying goodbye to Tessa in the airport. They are completely against the light and in the shadow. As Tessa and his friend walk toward their airplane, they start walking into sunlight, but Meirelles gradually puts them out of focus and leaves only Justin in the front and center watching them leave as if watching an oil painting. There are many such artistic moments in this movie. Meirelles also uses lighting to show different moods in the movie. He infuses all the flashbacks of Justin and Tessa with bright and somewhat dreamy light to reflect their happiness and out-of-this-world love towards each other. After Tessa’s death, when Justin roams around in his house and visits their old haunts, Meirelles casts a dark shadow over everything to go along with Justin’s somber mood and the scenes look like they were shot in black and white with just a taint of color.
I am glad that Meirelles shot the movie on location in Africa instead of some look-alike place. Africa and its people play an important role in this movie. The continent’s beauty, openness and barrenness, along with the warmth of its people and the plight they are in, are the heart and soul of The Constant Gardener. As shown in City of God, Meirelles clearly feels affinity to people of developing countries who have to struggle every day simply to survive. With the same technique he adopted in City of God, he uses a hand held camera to add a documentary feel to all the African scenes in the movie. His Africa provokes the same emotion his Rio slum did in City of God: real, desperate and moving.
The end of the movie echoes what Nick Nolte said to Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda. In explaining why the world will not intervene in the genocide in Rwanda, Nolte has a memorable line, “You’re not even a n_____. You’re an African.” It has been too long for us to close our eyes and cover our ears to shut off all the suffering and misery in Africa and despite the fact that The Constant Gardener is not a powerful movie, it does make us see and hear for at least two hours how lucky we are and how each of us may be able to change the world by helping one person at a time.
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