Making terrific use of on location shooting in Kenya and the surrounding area, The Constant Gardener achieves a gritty realism to its story involving the murder of a British diplomat's wife and the husband's persistent efforts to discover whodunit.
That said, the plot isn't based on fact, but a John le Carré novel that tracks the amateur sleuthing of Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), a relatively low-level diplomat sent to work for the British government in Africa. His wife Tessa, (Golden Globe winner Rachel Weisz) a headstrong and outspoken political activist, has been found murdered in the African countryside. Early thoughts are perhaps bandits are responsible for the murder, but Justin suspects otherwise, and rightfully so.
Director Fernando Meirelles (a previous Oscar-nominee for the outstanding drama City of God) proves to be a great match for the material, by keeping the story and its underlying mystery moving at a steady pace. Yet, he's not afraid to use a wide variety of color schemes and camera angles to keep things just left of conventional.
Not that the story itself can be considered conventional, although it does incorporate some standard elements of thrillers, such as government conspiracies and hidden agendas of characters. But while the movie works very well on the thriller level, at its heart beats a love story about a husband falling even more in love with his wife after her death.
The couple's relationship is effectively weaved into the story through a series of flashbacks, choosing to depend on the audience to pick up some of the details of their live along the way. The well structured and intelligent screenplay by Jeffrey Caine allows the audience to make its own discoveries right along with Justin, instead of choosing to spell everything out.
On the surface, Justin and Tessa would appear to be complete opposites. He's a quiet, mild-mannered person, more at ease in his garden than at social and business functions. She's brash and doggedly persistent, yet big-hearted and passionate. In short, they are both attracted to those character traits that the other possesses.
Article comments