nan | 楠木

The Constant Gardener, based on John Le Carre’s book, is a quiet thriller that captures the essence of the book very well.
At its heart, the film/book is an angry outcry against big pharmaceuticals, as well as being a disturbingly deep love story. It will not make you feel good.
Ralph Fiennes is perfectly cast as the reticent yet strong-willed husband who has lost his wife, and is determined to get to the bottom of his wife’s murder. He embarks on a perilous journey, both in body and mind, and through this journey he comes to understand more of his wife, and the mission she took on, and he in turn carries on that mission.
Both the film and the book does disturbingly well at conveying the grief of losing your loved one. Indeed, this grief, and the strong underlying love and faith, is the driving factor that pushes the otherwise extremely slow and quiet story. There are no shootouts or chase scenes. The movie never builds into a final showdown, as the climax feels more of an anti-climax. At the end of the film, you feel that it is only the end of the beginning.
And I think that is the film’s purpose–it is direct and clear that it is sending a message, and this film should not be the end to the issue. Rather, it should be the beginning.