The Constant Gardener (2005)

Directed by: Fernando Meirelles | 129 minutes | drama, thriller | Actors: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Hubert Koundé, Danny Huston, Daniele Harford, Packson Ngugi, Bill Nighy, Archie Panjabi, Nick Reding, Gerard McSorley, Juliet Aubrey, Jacqueline Maribe, Pete Postlethwaite

In 2002, director Fernando Meirelles delivered a masterpiece with ‘Cidade de Deus’ (‘City of God’), a shocking film about a violently poor neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. With ‘The Constant Gardener’, based on the novel by John le Carré, Meirelles proves that he is still aware of the misery in the world. Africa is the subject, and AIDS and pharmaceutical companies. But this time we’re not watching a resident of a distressed village, but a British diplomat.

This lovable Brit, Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), had to go to Africa for unknown reasons, taking his beautiful young wife Tessa (Rachel Weisz) with him. Tessa is a passionate activist who wants to help as many people as possible. While she is busy sorting out shady business, her husband is happy gardening. When Tessa starts hanging out with the African doctor Arnold Bluhm after the death of her baby, Justin starts to suspect everything, but it is only when he hears that Tessa and Arnold have been gruesomely murdered that he really interferes in Tessa’s affairs. The sweet, timid, polite diplomat soon discovers a terrible plot by large pharmaceutical companies (Threebees and KBH) that earn their billions on the backs of poor Africans. Justin turns out to be a brave detective following in his wife’s footsteps.

The Constant Gardener is very well acted. There are a few established greats in this film such as Bill Nighy (known from ‘Love Actually’, among others), Pete Postlethwaite (known from ‘Jurassic Park’ among others) and Ralph Fiennes himself. Rachel Weisz may not be very established yet, but she could easily knock Kate Winslet off her throne. Not only is the acting very natural, the also very natural dialogues also ensure that the actors get the chance to shine. The camera work and editing are always adapted to the mood of the scene: in a busy African kitchen or in a moving train, different images follow each other in quick succession, while a classy business meeting is calmly depicted and a love scene with many whites and fading bodies.

The tension in ‘The Constant Gardener’ isn’t the kind of suspense from a Hollywood action movie, occasionally you bite your nails, but in general there is a more subtle kind of tension: could Justin be able to unravel where his wife is? was doing exactly? If that doesn’t interest you, the film isn’t very interesting, plenty of time is taken to find out, with quite a bit of repetition. If you as a viewer have understood everything for a long time, it all has to be slowly explained to Justin and therefore the film is on the long side. In addition, the perspective of the British diplomat and aid worker is not the most intrusive to raise this issue. ‘Cidade de Deus’ makes a bigger impression because it gives more of an inside look.

However, that does not mean that ‘The Constant Gardener’ does not leave an impression. The film does make you think: do things like this really happen? A dangerous bird flu virus has reached the edges of Europe, will there be a cure soon, hastily tested on sick Africans?