The Constant Gardener [2005]
£2.94
mesmerising - I hadn t heard much of this film when I bought it but it had a good cast so I decided it would be a good buy. How right I was! To be honest this is not the kind of plot I am interested in, covered up government secrets or political/diplomatical troubles in other countries (that makes me sound really stupid!)but there was something so exciting and tantalising about this film, and in many parts totally heartbreaking. Plus fantastic photography of Africa. A must watch!
Constant Drivel - Do me a favour, I cannot believe that this film has such high aclaim. It fails to draw you in and get in touch with any of the characters. I have already wasted 2 hours of my life watching this drivel so I dont want to waste any more time even talking about it. This should have been a straight to video film.
Great direction shame about the rest - I purchased this DVD knowing nothing much except I d seen the name in the media and it starred Ralph Fiennes. It started well the first shot is a beautiful lake and the story quickly caught my attention. Stuffy, conventional British diplomat marries a political activist and takes her to a posting in Kenya, then around 5 minutes into the movie the wife is found murdered in a car. What follows is a thriller as the diplomat tries to understand why his wife was murdered and slowly uncovers more details about her life as an activist, rushing around Europe and Africa looking for clues - and underneath the rocks finding the dasterdly corruption of government, and greedy corporations, using the third world to line their own pockets. Sounds a great plot and it is. On top of that the direction is innovative and inventive, it manages to convey, movement, fear, doubt, beauty, filth and, has some great visual shots of Africa in all its glory and pain. Fiennes is also showing off his talents, looking shifty at airports, crying on demand, looking confused and down-trodden although he never looks that comfortable planting seeds in the potting shed of the preverbial garden of the title.So, what s the problem with the film. Well firstly there is no spark and little communication between Fiennes and his wife when they are married, and so it s a complete mystery why he would abandon his British reserve, throw caution to the wind and run around digging into her past. The character of the wife is completely wooden, she s portrayed as a political activist but doesn t do much more than hang out in a township, seemingly avoiding any charities or organisations that are there to try and help. So, eventually I became bored with our two leads as they came across as un-fleshed characters, self-indulgent and more concerned with western politics than getting down and dirty in the earth of Africa. They were far too one dimensional to care about, making it impossible to believe their emotions and choices, whilst their grand gestures and bleeding hearts came across as completely hollow. There are some other characters in the mix mainly British government officials, of the BBC english variety, played by actors whose talents were frankly wasted by a rather undemanding script, stereotypes who cheat on their wifes and eat sole meuniere in the club . Allthough there is tension and foreboding due to the great direction and there are illusions to corporations, diplomatic necessity and scarey shots of video cameras in airports - ultimately the why was not believable to me. The why being, who would care enough to take serious actions against these two meddlers. In summary a great start, an increasingly disappointing middle and an end which when it came was rather abrupt and pretty pointless when put into the wider context of the real issues facing the dark continent. Watch it for the photography and direction, for the grim but honest view of the problems of Africa but don t expect a great movie.
Well made, but a bit boring - Lots of critical acclaim for this Oscar and BAFTA nominated movie, but dare i suggest that it s actually a touch boring? Well made and well acted of course, nothing wrong there, but the screenplay in lacking inspiration and you never really feel much empathy for the characters, save perhaps for Ralph Fiennes.
Great filmaking - This is not just an intelligent and thoughtful film, but an important film, a deeply moving film, a human film. Ralph Fiennes confirms his place as the greatest and most important actor of his generation. I wept.