The Constant Gardener

The Constant gardener is about a diplomat in the hunt for his wife's murderer, who uncovers a treacherous conspiracy which has the potential to kill millions of innocent people, until he can uncover its sinister roots.

This film is beautifully done; from the convincing relationship between the diplomat and his wife, to the wife's activist view on helping people in Africa. This film is slow paced, yet it is an on the edge of your seat thriller. It is brilliantly shot, and flicks from scenes to show the past and present aspects of the relationships as a tool to help Justin (Ralph Finnes) uncover the truth about his wife's murderer. Finnes and Weisz are impeccable in this film! They couldn't have played it more perfectly.

It is a truly enjoyable thought-provoking film, which will leave you thinking about it long after you've left the cinema.

The Constant Gardener is a film about the corruption of Western pharmaceutical companies in Aids oppressed Africa, which does not sound very promising, but I'd urge readers to think again. 'The Constant Gardener' is a topical, subtle thriller and a convincing love story.

The relationship between the two principals Rachel Weiss (Tessa) and Ralph Fiennes (Justin) is utterly convincing, and as such they draw from each other their best performances to date. The plaudits must go to Weiss, who fully personifies her role and stays in the memory. While Ralph Fiennes may seem a little too reserved for some tastes, the fault is not with his acting, Justin Quayle is a typical Le Carre male character. Similarly, the pace may seem to lag at times, but this is merely because we are being drawn slowly into an absorbing thriller.

For me, the direction by Fernando Meirelles is pitch perfect, and is matched by a fine adaption by Jeffrey Caine from the John Le Carre novel. The cinematography is stunning and well thought-out. When Justin Quyale, played by Fiennes, goes to Africa, the use of hand held cameras, and the semi-documentary style highlights the void between his comfortable London life and the poverty of those in the slums of Africa. Indeed, Africa becomes a character in its own right, but this is no tourist board advertisement. The sweeping vistas serve to draw the viewer into a world of beauty and horror. We are pulled along with Justin and see ourselves reflected in him. From a life of comfortable complacency, his wife Tessa (Weiss) draws him into a world of secrecy, fear, love, loss and revelation, until at the end we feel we have witnessed the journey of a man as transforming and epic as any in great literature.

It has been months since I saw the film, and what stays with me are the emotions engendered by this piece - that hasn't happened since 'Schindler's List' and 'Ghandi' before it. I hope it gets the recognition it deserves at the Oscars, although something tells me it may join the long list of films that undeservedly slipped through the Oscar net.

No matter what happens at the Oscars, I look forward to seeing 'The Constant Gardener' again, and I shall welcome it like an old friend. It fully deserves to be as well known and as highly praised as it's more abstruse companion, 'The English Patient'

The Constant Gardener was a, how shall I put it? - interesting film. It's a good film to watch if you want to feel sad after you leave the cinema. The problem with it is that it is not based on a true story, so you kind of feel that you are angry at the drugs companies for something they didn't do. Not a great film, but very well made.

I watched The Constant Gardener last night which is a political thriller - political maybe, but thriller is stretching it.

This film centre's around the romance between Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) and his wife Tessa (Rachel Weisz), the latter being the victim of a barbaric murder in Kenya. It is then up to Quayle, a British diplomat in Kenya, to undercover the real reason why his wife was murdered following a cover-up story from the Kenyan authorities.

We get to learn a lot about thanks to numerous flashbacks and she is pretty much the opposite to Justin - she is feisty & driven by a desire to right all the worlds wrongs, he is a poe-faced and straight laced diplomat who sees the bigger picture. In truth they aren't the most convincing of couples.

After some digging around Justin realises that his wife was onto something big after she uncovered some dirty dealing with British and Kenyan powerbrokers and a huge pharmaceutical company. Justin's battle for the truth then becomes the centrepoint of the film as he tries to get to the bottom of this conspiracy.

Sounds good doesn't it? That's what I thought but there was a lot about this film I flat out didn't like.

First off, it's a very one paced (slow) film, now I'm no action-hog and I'm not averse to a slow burner but this film is lethargic - it takes an eternity for anything of note to happen and the film not once attempts to change pace. I found this style of direction to really burden the film and in truth I thought this picture was basically dull.

I just couldn't get into it and despite some stellar support, I just couldn't bring myself to give a damn about any of the leads. Fiennes just isn't a guy you want to root for, he lacks passion, steel and that roguish quality that every leading male needs. I'm well aware this is how the character was written - to not be the quintessential run of the mill hero - but the good guy needs something, call it cliche but they need an X-Factor of sorts and the Quayle Man just ain't got it.

I also struggled to take to Weisz's character of Tessa - she had a bit of spunk and was a fesity heroine, but I for one couldn;t bring myself to care. This is where the problem lies with this film - you just don't care. Sure it's shot on location in Africa, sure it's an eye opener but the key ingredient to any films success is to get a reaction from the viewer - scare them, make them laugh, make them cry, have them on the edge of their seat, but whatever you do don't allow them to switch off, which is exactly what this film does.

It's a real shame, because the supporting cast is as good as you will find anywhere - guys like Bill Nighy, Pete Postlethwaite & Donald Sumpter as an ageing British spy.

If you want to see a brilliant film about Africa, get down to Blockbuster and watch Hotel Rwanda - that is everything this film isn't.