The Constant Gardener, based on the book of the same name by John le Carré, is the enthralling story of unsafe drugs testings, murders and cover-ups by MNC's in Kenya. Ralph Fiennes plays British diplomat Justin Quayle whose wife, Rachel Weisz (Tessa Quayle), is killed while unraveling the mysteries of pharmaceutical company's corruption.
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Ralph Fiennes |
In terms of colours, this movie is gorgeous, vibrant and full of life. The way this movie is shot is really interesting. I could ramble on all day about each scene until the time at which the cattle return to their homestead, however I will just describe a few.
- Justin Quayle is a gardening hobbyist, and is often working away with plants and such. In one of these scenes, he is lost in thought, and the out of focus camera follows his blurry outline. When his name is called, and he becomes aware the camera immediately snaps into focus, a very simple, yet affective touch.
- When Justin and Tessa move to Kenya they become progressively more estranged, as Tessa wishes to keep her work private. Obviously Justin is deeply saddened by his wife's death in Kenya, but its only when he returns to her apartment in London that he really grieves for his wife, rather the woman he fell in love with.
- While in Italy searching for an acquaintance of his wife, Justin walks past some men playing football on the street. Hours later he returns to his hotel room where he is brutally beaten by a group of men. They slam the door behind him and the camera subtly exposes a football being kicked down the hallway as they leave.
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Rachel Weisz |
The Constant Gardener
4.5/5
A really good review here. I'm currently working on my own for my site and I just saw yours in a search so I thought I'd check it out. I like how you mentioned the out-of-focus scene where his name is called. I didn't catch that while watching.
ReplyDeleteThank you for that wonderful review! I’ve seen this film countless times and it never fails to grab my attention. I like how the film is narrated and deviates from the usual narrative of beginning, middle and end. Instead, it uses flashbacks as a tool to reveal the truth behind the events.
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