The Constant Gardener was made after a novel written by John le Carré. I just couldn't believe that he's the same man who wrote the novel for The Russia House, because there were several times when I actually thought of that movie during this one. One lucky guess, I guess. The Constant Gardener is at first concentrated at a couple, Justin Quayle and Tessa Quayle. He's a diplomat, she's an activist and both are present in a remote area of Northern Kenya. Tessa or 'Tess' is quite a sensitive and bold woman, which is clear from the beginning when she openly criticizes Britain's passivity and suspicious standards of morality. Considering the country's foreign policy of course.
Her bold and uncompromising character is pretty much the reason why Justin devoted his attention to her in the first place. The technique isn't quite new, but the exchange of past and present events in their private lives really anchors you into their relationship. Then comes the journey to Africa, specifically Kenya where Tess is really anxious to escort her husband. They both seem to be well assimilated to it as we already see them living there. This is where the trouble start. Tess is getting more and more involved in the local pharmaceutical affair and finding out more, without her husband ever even suspecting a thing. She does this with the help of her husband's colleague, Sandy Woodrow. What she finds out doesn't stay hidden because of her informing a few high officials in Britain. Despite the warnings, Tess refuses to keep her voice down about the local community being an experiment for global pharmaceutical companies. That is pretty much the reason for the mysterious murder of her and her good friend Arnold Bluhm.
Justin is now left alone and shocked, not having a clue about what happened. The same goes for the viewer as the rest of the mystery is yet to be revealed by Justin's relentless search. The most important part of the movie is the unraveling of that single mystery. Director Fernando Meirelles, well-known for his previous film City of God, draws the techniques of zooming, camera shaking and using vivid colors to the max. This is what makes this film more exciting and thrilling to watch. The story is quite complex and at times too rapid to comprehend all that is being said. It kind of reminds me of JFK because it's stampede throwing of all sorts of facts. Nothing wrong with that, it actually makes the story look more intelligent and dynamic.
Of lots of espionage and political thrillers released in the past decades, this one could be considered good not because of it's plot, but because of it's execution and the authentic presentation of completely different societies. It really is one of the rare movies to make the constant change of surroundings look quite untroubled. Adding really fine performances should do the trick for me but I didn't find the story as thought provoking as I hoped I would. I think that all of the techniques and tricks used by the director worked as a disguise to make us forget what the reason for killing Tess was. We already figured it out. You might think that there's a grand conspiracy waiting to unfold itself, but you are left a little disappointed. The Constant Gardener is mainly a very good thriller, enriched with some great performances and stand-out direction as well as editing and credible presenting of different environments. A specific extra is the all-embracing sensation of guilt for all the suffering of mankind. Something rare in films today. It missed an 8 within a hair. 7.5/10.
....... - 4/5 .......
Her bold and uncompromising character is pretty much the reason why Justin devoted his attention to her in the first place. The technique isn't quite new, but the exchange of past and present events in their private lives really anchors you into their relationship. Then comes the journey to Africa, specifically Kenya where Tess is really anxious to escort her husband. They both seem to be well assimilated to it as we already see them living there. This is where the trouble start. Tess is getting more and more involved in the local pharmaceutical affair and finding out more, without her husband ever even suspecting a thing. She does this with the help of her husband's colleague, Sandy Woodrow. What she finds out doesn't stay hidden because of her informing a few high officials in Britain. Despite the warnings, Tess refuses to keep her voice down about the local community being an experiment for global pharmaceutical companies. That is pretty much the reason for the mysterious murder of her and her good friend Arnold Bluhm.
Justin is now left alone and shocked, not having a clue about what happened. The same goes for the viewer as the rest of the mystery is yet to be revealed by Justin's relentless search. The most important part of the movie is the unraveling of that single mystery. Director Fernando Meirelles, well-known for his previous film City of God, draws the techniques of zooming, camera shaking and using vivid colors to the max. This is what makes this film more exciting and thrilling to watch. The story is quite complex and at times too rapid to comprehend all that is being said. It kind of reminds me of JFK because it's stampede throwing of all sorts of facts. Nothing wrong with that, it actually makes the story look more intelligent and dynamic.
Of lots of espionage and political thrillers released in the past decades, this one could be considered good not because of it's plot, but because of it's execution and the authentic presentation of completely different societies. It really is one of the rare movies to make the constant change of surroundings look quite untroubled. Adding really fine performances should do the trick for me but I didn't find the story as thought provoking as I hoped I would. I think that all of the techniques and tricks used by the director worked as a disguise to make us forget what the reason for killing Tess was. We already figured it out. You might think that there's a grand conspiracy waiting to unfold itself, but you are left a little disappointed. The Constant Gardener is mainly a very good thriller, enriched with some great performances and stand-out direction as well as editing and credible presenting of different environments. A specific extra is the all-embracing sensation of guilt for all the suffering of mankind. Something rare in films today. It missed an 8 within a hair. 7.5/10.
....... - 4/5 .......