'Gardener' mixes issues, action
Jeff Strickler
Star Tribune
August 31, 2005

 Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles' Oscar-nominated "City of God" was half crime thriller, half sociological study. "The Constant Gardener," his first film in English, starts there and goes even further: It's part thrills, part sociology, part politics, part travelogue and part romance.

That's a lot to cram in, and it's not accomplished without certain machinations, some of them a bit disjointed. Viewers looking for a traditional pot-boiler might be disappointed that the narrative train keeps getting run off on a siding while the movie explores other issues.

But viewers who like real-world issues interwoven with their fiction -- much in the style of author John Le Carré, whose novel is the basis for this movie -- should find plenty to chew on. Meirelles is not afraid to ruffle political feathers. On the contrary, he seems to enjoy it.

The movie is set in motion by a murder, but that's not really what it's about. The real subject is greedy pharmaceutical companies, which allegedly are in bed with government officials.

The story begins with the discovery that Tessa (Rachel Weisz) has been murdered in a remote part of Kenya. She was a British political activist investigating reports that drug companies were testing new products by giving them to unsuspecting Kenyans. Any bad side effects were being buried -- literally, in some cases.

The Kenyan police and the British consulate write off the murder as the work of a marauding band of robbers. But Tessa's husband, Justin (Ralph Fiennes), thinks that Tessa was killed by hit men hired by the drug companies -- perhaps even with the knowledge of both the Kenyan and British governments -- to shut her up.

The thriller plot line is divided into halves. In the first, Justin tries to retrace Tessa's activities that led to her murder. In the second, he continues her investigation to see where it will lead, knowing full well that if his assumption about her murder is correct, he's risking a similar fate.

But the actual narrative structure is much more complex than that. Using extensive flashback sequences that are presented as Justin's mournful memories, the film shows how he and Tessa met and fell in love. As Justin follows his wife's journey through Kenya, we get an extensive look at the country, from the serenity of the Indian Ocean to the claustrophobic clamor of the shantytowns. And periodically, everything just comes to a stop while someone -- a politico, drug company honcho or doctor -- delivers an impassioned speech.

The acting is exquisite. Fiennes (a two-time Oscar nominee) and Weisz ("Constantine") exude a quiet strength that makes their heroic aspirations plausible instead of turning them into cartoon superheroes. The excellent supporting cast includes Pete Postlethwaite, Danny Huston and Bill Nighy.

In reaching to incorporate the many disparate elements, Meirelles lets the narrative's momentum sag at times. But he has a very keen sense of place that is its own reward.

 

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