Oh, To Garden Constantly
Unlike a certain whiny bastard with terrible taste, most people have had nothing but glowing praise for The Constant Gardener, the new film from Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles. And with good reason---the movie's a taut political thriller about a genteel mid-level British diplomat in Africa (Ralph Fiennes) whose activist wife (Rachel Weisz) is killed, an event which spurs him to get to the bottom of her murder by digging ever deeper. Y'know, 'cause he's a gardener.
Wackiness ensues, and he gets caught up in a conspiracy involving multinational drug companies testing dangerous new products in the third world, coupled with the complacency (and perhaps direct involvement) of politicians in the first world. So it's a great film if you're in a cynical, mistrustful of government, anti-Big Pharma mood. More than that, though, this is a love story, in which a man's mourning leads to a gradual awakening, allowing him to finally fully understand his wife, to better love her after her death...and not in a necrophiliac way.
Seattlest (or at least our current incarnation) hasn't read the John le Carré novel upon which the film is based, but we've heard that screenwriter Jeffrey Caine did a great job streamlining the book's plot, eliminating extraneous characters, and leaving the story ambigious and detailed enough for multiple viewings. It doesn't hurt that all the acting is solid. Fiennes is great as the reluctant hero, with the supporting cast of creeps, including Danny Huston and Bill Nighy, lending the right amount of refined nastiness. Meanwhile, it's wonderful to see Rachel Weisz (or seriously, any woman in a Hollywood film) with such a meaty, complex role.
But what we're most excited about is how it all looks. Few directors thrill us as much as Fernando Meirelles. City of God blew us away---indeed, it's one of our favorite films of the decade thus far---and, thanks to remarkably gifted Uruguayan cinematographer César Charlone, the kinetic, documentary-style camera work seen in their first movie is still at the fore in The Constant Gardener. In both films, Meirelles captures stirring images of abject poverty without patronizing those who live in such conditions; in contrast, our very acknowledgment of this is a de facto patronizing statement, illustrating that we are nowhere near so gifted. Meirelles' camerawork is stunning, and he doesn't beat you over the head with the politics of it all. Subtlety and vision like his should be rewarded with a rich career.
We are, however, a bit worried by the movie's marketing, since it seems to play up the thriller aspect as if The Constant Gardener were more of an action film. Don't get us wrong, there is some serious international intrigue going on, but it's in a delicate manner, and not as over-the-top as all the TV ads would have you think. The movie's a political thriller, people, which means that there will be some globetrotting, but not any high-speed snowboard chases, dude. Just the vibrant slums outside Nairobi, contrasted with scenes of drab "civilization" in London and Berlin.
The Constant Gardener opens today, and is playing at a bunch of theaters in town. Go see this worthwhile film, surely among the best of the summer, and for chrissakes, avoid The Brothers Grimm at all costs.
