The Constant Gardener
by Fernando Meirelles
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Danny Huston, Rachel Weisz, Ralph FiennesDirector: Fernando Meirelles
Brand: FIENNES,RALPH
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; German (Original Language); Italian (Original Language); Swahili (Original Language); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 129 minutes
Published: 2006-01-01
DVD Release Date: 2006-01-10
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of The Constant Gardener
Movie Review: "Women make the homes, men just make wars ... and hooch."
Summary: 5 Stars
Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles more than does justice to John Le Carre's 2001 novel, "The Constant Gardner" in this extraordinary adaptation. He worked closely with cinematographer Cesar Charlone to recreate the vivid quality of Africa, of Kenya, and of the African people, in the movie theater. With photography, color, motion and wonderful music, the viewer is taken to both the Nairobi of the wealthy expatriate community - and the villages and shantytowns of the not so fortunate. The acting is superb!
Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), is a kindly, self-effacing British diplomat, a bachelor attached to the British High Commission in Nairobi. He is a steadfast, loyal and moral man. Gardening is his passion. Justin meets and falls in love with social and political activist Tessa, (Rachel Weisz). One gets the feeling that he had never experienced such intensity of feeling before - not even through gardening. Therefore, shortly after their initial encounter, when she asks him to take her to Africa, he does - as Mrs. Quayle.
True to form, in Kenya Rachel becomes extremely involved working with the poor and infirm, especially with women and children. Her constant companion and coworker is a black doctor, Arnold Bluhm, (Hubert Kounde). Together they visit villages and do the best they can to tend to their patients with minimal supplies and medication from pharmaceutical companies and relief organizations. The dates on most of the supplies and medicine are expired by the time they reach the targeted population. The donors, however, are still provided with tax write-offs.
The film opens with the brutal murder of Rachel Quayle in an isolated area of northern Kenya, and the disappearance of Bluhm. When rumors of Rachel's infidelity surface as an explanation for her death, Arnold becomes the prime suspect as the thwarted lover. Justin's good friend and colleague, Sandy Woodrow (Danny Huston), tells him of his wife's demise. Justin, in shock, still feels sorry for Sandy for having to break such terrible news. Grief-stricken, Quayle begins to investigate his wife's so called "infidelities" and discovers that Rachel and Arnold had been compiling evidence about a multinational drug company that uses the poor and uneducated to test new drugs.
Risking his own life, Quayle finds that his old colleagues in the diplomatic corps are well aware of Rachel's activities. He also discovers that life outside his garden is not a pretty place at all.
Fiennes is wonderful as the man mourning a woman he loved but did not know very well. The depth of his quiet sadness powerfully permeates the film. Weisz is perfect as the younger woman, sincerely driven to make a difference. The scenes when she romps with the children in the shantytowns are electric with energy and joy, despite the squalid conditions. Huston's character is a real sleaze but he's not the biggest rat - that position belongs to Sir Bernard Pellegrin, (Bill Nighy), knight of the realm, and probably the most corrupt, distasteful character I have seen in quite a while.
"The Constant Gardner" is a wonderful and compelling love story, as well as a chilling mystery with themes of social justice and ethics, as well as deception, deceit and murder most foul.
Again, Meirelles' artistic eye and the camera results are golden. The marvelous score is by Spanish composer Alberto Iglesias. Highly recommended!
JANA
Summary of The Constant Gardener
Nominated for four Academy Awards, The Constant Gardener stars Ralph Fiennes and Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actress Rachel Weisz. In this gripping suspense-thriller, a diplomat on the hunt for his wife's murderer uncovers a treacherous conspiracy that will destroy millions of innocent people - unless he can reveal its sinister roots. From the best-selling spy novel by John Le Carre comes this edge-of-your-seat story of murder, deception and revenge that critics are calling "a hair-raising thriller with an unforgettable finale" (Karen Durbin, Elle).The Constant Gardener is the kind of thriller that hasn't been seen since the 1970s: Smart, politically complex, cinematically adventurous, genuinely thrilling and even heartbreaking. Mild diplomat Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes, The English Patient, Schindler's List) has a loose cannon of a wife named Tessa (Rachel Weisz, The Shape of Things, The Mummy), who's digging into the dirty doings of a major pharmaceutical company in Kenya. Her brutal murder forces Justin to continue her investigation down some deadly avenues. This simple plot description doesn't capture the rich texture and slippery, sinuous movement of The Constant Gardener, superbly directed by Fernando Meirelles (Oscar-nominated for his first film, City of God). Shifting back and forth in time, the movie skillfully captures the engaging romance between Justin and Tessa (Fiennes shows considerably more chemistry with Weisz than he had with Jennifer Lopez in Maid in Manhattan) and builds a vivid, gripping, and all-too-justified paranoia. And on top of it all, the movie is beautiful, due to both its incredible shots of the African landscape (which at times is haunting and unearthly) and the gorgeous cinematography. Featuring an all-around excellent cast, including Bill Nighy (Love Actually), Pete Postlethwaite (In the Name of the Father), and Danny Huston (Silver City). --Bret Fetzer
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