ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies

JOHN LE CARRÈ WRITES the kind of thrillers that match ingenious plots with moral outrage. In ‘The Constant Gardener’, he unleashed his wrath on multi-national drug companies and their shady dealings in parts of the world where nobody protects the poor and vulnerable.

His novel blends a haunting love story with an eye-opening lesson in global power and is a challenge for any filmmaker. ‘City Of God’ director Fernando Mereilles rises to that challenge with a film adaptation that is stylishly directed, coolly intelligent and quietly devastating.

Ralph Fiennes starts as British official Justin. He is decent, reserved and eternally diplomatic, but when he meets hot-headed activist Tessa (Rachel Weisz) it is a moment when opposites attract.

The film begins at the tragic end of their marriage with the news that a white woman and her black driver have been found dead in the Kenyan bush. The woman is identified as Tessa and the film combines backward reflection on her life and their love affair with Justin’s determination to unravel the truth about what happened to her.

It becomes obvious that she paid for her curiosity with her life as an increasingly impassioned Justin uncovers a wide-ranging, sinister conspiracy. ‘The Constant Gardener’ may have some of the plot elements of a James Bond spectacular or a Robert Ludlum thriller, but this is a much more thoughtful, deeply felt reflection on the way the pursuit of profits has such a lofty disdain for the value of human life.

Spirited work from Rachel Weisz and a touching, delicately judged performance from Ralph Fiennes lend a human touch to a film that is destined to win hearts and minds.

General release, cinemas nationwide
Director: Fernando Mereilles
Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Danny Huston, Pete Postlethwaite, Bill Nighy
Screenplay: Jeffrey Caine, from the novel by John Le Carre
Certificate: 15
Running time: 129 mins
Country: USA
Year: 2005

© Allan Hunter, 2005