Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
Ralph Fiennes (left) and Pete Postlethwaite (right) in a scene from the movie The Constant Gardener. - CONTRIBUTED
THE CONSTANT Gardener is a great film, but at first, it is a lot like watching flowers grow. The result is beautiful, but it is very slow going. The characters are well developed and engaging, but it is very slow going. The plot is original and well-thought out but it is very slow going.
The Constant Gardener is a story about love, politics, capitalism, and death and desolation in Africa, but in particular Kenya. As such, a touching love story is placed against the backdrop of one of the great crimes against humanity, which like all things inhumane, are conducted by humans.
Indeed, despite the slow beginning, as the movie progresses the sense of high drama and suspense greatly increase, in part enhanced by shaky camera angles and other effects allowing the entire film to adopt the feel of jerking forward as the mystery unravels.
Based on a John Le Carré novel with a screenplay by Jeffrey Caine, The Constant Gardener is directed by Fernando Mierelles (City of God). It also has at its disposal a fabulous cast led by Ralph Fiennes as Justin Quayle and Rachel Weisz as the enigmatic Tessa Quayle who both delivered the high calibre performances one would expect of them. Feinnes plays the extremely conservative Justin, who is never more at home than in a garden, with superb skill. Weisz is captivating as his opposite, a woman intent on changing the world and doing so with great passion.
Supporting roles are also admirably played by Hubert Koundé (Arnold Bluhm), Danny Huston (Sandy Woodrow) and Bill Nighy (Sir Bernard Pellegrin). Indeed, this is another good addition to Nighy's recent run of interesting diverse characters that range from the eccentric ageing rock star of Love Actually and the ultra conservative diplomat of The Girl in the Café.
Indeed, The Girl in the Café and The Constant Gardener have much in common as they give a peek at how international politics and commerce engender the continued suffering of those deemed the wretched of the earth. Much of modern civilisation was built on the backs of Africa, watered with its blood and nourished with its flesh.
The Constant Gardener explores how this continues to happen within the contemporary world, taking a peek at the half that is yet untold. It looks in particular at the world's top pharmaceutical companies and creates an image somewhat reminiscent of the Nazi experiments during the World War II. Indeed, it is not really true that the story is untold, it really is that the world suffers from blindness, induced by closed eyes so that we do not have to see these stories.
Mierelles tackles The Constant Gardener with great artistic vision and insight. Additionally, the film is beautifully shot, if one can use that word to describe some of the pieces of extreme tragedy it evocatively captures.
The film can afford to develop slowly because its content is strong enough to take that risk and what it has to say is worth saying slowly in order to be well said. The Constant Gardener is miles beyond ordinary. It covers much of the ugly, but it also takes in the beauty of love which is able to grow even in desolation.
