Le Carre still relevant in 'The Constant Gardener'
August 31, 2005
By Terry Lawson

 With the demise of the Cold War, it was publicly pondered what would become of writer John le Carre, whose novels, inevitably turned into films, depended greatly on the espionage of the superpowers. But le Carre simply kept his ear to the ground and shone his flashlight on his new threat to freedom, peace and justice: multinational corporations.

Even the most passionate free-market advocate may be given pause by the quite brilliant and morally provocative adaptation of le Carre's novel "The Constant Gardener." Not only does this story of a low-level British diplomat (Ralph Fiennes), who refuses to believe his own government's official explanation of his wife's murder in Africa, have the topical urgency that always fueled le Carre's literate thrillers, it has been exquisitely rendered by Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles.

Meirelles' first film, the kinetic and passionate "City of God," was a one-of-kind social expose and violent thriller. The more deliberate "The Constant Gardener" proves it was no fluke. This is the natural evolution of classical filmmaking, a character-driven drama of actual import that delivers a message and dramatic punch, but with a visual edginess and narrative ingenuity that is in the service of the story, as opposed to the filmmaker's cleverness.

Fiennes, the most introspective of actors, is perfectly cast as Justin Quayle, a diplomat who is assigned to Kenya, taking with him a wife he never thought he would have.

They had met -- much of the film is told in flashback -- when he was giving a desultory college lecture on behalf of her majesty the queen, and Tessa (Rachel Weisz) took the opportunity to call Tony Blair's representative to task on Iraq.

An apology cup of coffee for the public humiliation leads to friendship and love and marriage, but her continued outspokenness and activism become a thorn in the side of Quayle's immediate supervisor and friend, Sandy Woodrow (Danny Huston), a situation further complicated by Sandy's sexual designs on Tessa.

In Kenya, while her husband is doing his official business and taking loving care of a new assortment of plants, Tessa sets out to help victims of tuberculosis and AIDS and makes an ally of African doctor and do-gooder Arnold Bluhm (Hubert Kounde). But if there is one thing that hasn't changed from the days of colonialism, it's that white folks tend to gossip. So when both of them end up brutally murdered in a Nairobi slum -- the news is delivered to Quayle in the film's heartbreaking opening scene -- rumors abound.

Quayle's original doggedness in ferreting out how his wife died is in no small part about finding out whether she truly didn't love him as deeply as he loved her. The trail is thick with the brush of politics and deception, but it eventually leads him somewhere else entirely.

Meirelles wisely limits the verbal arguments and complicated shows of gamesmanship that often make le Carre's books so involving and illuminating to get "The Constant Gardener" out of the office and into Africa, which, as they say, becomes a character in the film. But he does more than contrast the gray halls of officialdom with the vibrant colors of an anything-but-dark continent.

"The Constant Gardener" is told as much from the point of view of modern Africa as it is from the white people in it. And if Meirelles and screenwriter Jeffrey Caine concentrate more on the corporations that would exploit this land than the corrupt environment that attracts them, they never reduce Kenya (where most of this was filmed) to innocent, naive victim. There is no exotic condescending here, but there is no way to watch "The Constant Gardener" and not be emotionally affected by the poverty and inequities everywhere to be seen.

The performances -- by a cast that also includes Bill Nighy, playing it very straight as the British high commissioner, and Pete Postlethwaithe as what could be called a person of interest -- are terrific across the board.

It's another feather in the cap of Meirelles, who with just two features under his belt should be on the A-list of any producer who wants to take a serious subject and invigorate it with the sort of heart-thumping passion that sends filmgoers out of the theater saying we really should do something about this.

And we should.

 

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