The Constant Gardener

The Constant Gardener tells the story of Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), a British diplomat in love with nature, especially plants. Justin is a man somewhat introverted but complacent, who, despite believing in his ideals, does almost nothing to rebel against his  monotonous and hypocritical working life.

Throughout the film the character evolves dramatically, so that he decides to break all his life's structure and his cowardice to discover who murdered his wife Tessa (Rachel Weisz), to whom he was madly in love.

The plot unfolds when Justin and Tessa (still his girlfriend) travel to Africa. Once there and after years, their  marriage deteriorates (apparently), as Tessa becomes an activist who has discovered the dirt of Western pharmaceutical companies in Africa, without her husband knowing anything about it.

According to director Fernando Mierelles the most important element of this film is the complaint about the situation on the African continent, the gangs that move drugs and the number of lives that are lost due to the silence of the Western world. However, the final result is far away from this intentions: it is rather a romance, a mixture of cheating and sense of betrayal and other typical elements of this kind of movie shows.

Talking about the realization level, photography and assembly, there are no doubts: it really is a very complete movie, with a huge variety of shoots and moods and with an assembly that provides a dramatic intensity that goes far beyond what is written in the script. Concerning the performances of the two lead actors, both of them get a ten because they manage to get really deep in their roles, in a totally efficient and credible way for the audience.

It is worth mentioning the end of the film which is incredibly beautiful at all levels, both visually and conceptually. The ending closes the circle that opens the film leaving the audience pleased.

Director: Fernando Meirelles

Writers: Jeffrey Caine (screenplay), John le Carré (based on the novel by)

Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz and Hubert Koundé