[Because of a lack of great films to talk about right at the moment, I will be digging up films from 2005 that are well worth your time. This is the first.]"Love. At any cost." The tagline from The Constant Gardener sounds like a vitally important ideal. So how does it play out in this new film from Academy-Award nominated director Fernando Mereilles (City of God)? This "Love" is both small and large, both individual and corporate, both personal and political, and it does come at great cost.
The story is set in Kenya, and centers around the lives of Justin (Ralph Fiennes) and Tessa (Rachel Weisz) Quayle. When Tessa is murdered, Justin is driven to discover the reason, and uncover his wife’s past. What begins as a murder-mystery soon becomes much more. A vast political conspiracy was being investigated by Tessa when she died, and now it is up to Justin to tell the truth.
Everyone on the planet is now well-aware of the health epidemic in Africa, but what are people doing about it? Well, in the film a handful of drug companies and financial opportunists decide that there is a vast wealth of money to be made. How? By using the Africans as guinea pigs. Is all human life sacred? What about people who will most likely die very soon? What if their sacrifice, unbeknownst to them, saved money and lives out in "the Western World"? Would anyone care if "expendable" Africans died for a "greater good"? How far would you personally go to do something about it? Would you sacrifice your reputation, your relationships, your career, your life? These are the questions raised by the film.
Fiennes performs convincingly, as usual, but Weisz steals the show. The passion for truth and justice in Tessa’s life shines through Weisz’s words. By the end of the film women, and men too, want to be more like Tessa, to make a difference in a real and powerful way.
Mereilles’ talent is evident throughout the film. (By the way, Mereilles’ first film, City of God, is fantastic, in case you were wondering). Not only is the story and acting intriguing, but the film is beautiful and visually stunning. The colors jump off the screen, and the exposure of the film almost burns your eyes. The film starts at the death of Tessa, and from there moves both forward and backward, filling in pieces along the way and confirming or abolishing our presuppositions about the truth. At times, the plot seems to have too many confusing details, but stick with it. Not every little piece has to make sense, because life is complicated, and often does not fit together perfectly in our minds.
The Constant Gardener does a great job of balancing global humanitarian activism with the sacred love between a man and a woman. It inspires us to seek out justice on a large scale, and love those who are next to us passionately. It takes a great deal of talent and hard work to pull this off. Though a "murder-mystery," the film does not linger in the well-trod ground of predictability; though a romantic film, it does not get sappy. The emotions are raw, and though not "based on a true story" the script is perfectly plausible.
Christ calls us to love all people, at any cost. We are to take care of the poor, the sick, the needy. Whether there is a pharmaceutical conspiracy or not, there are very real and pressing opportunities to help those in desperate need throughout Africa. Christ is calling us to action, let us not be silent. Jesus also desires us to live lives of righteousness, acting with love and truth in all that we do. Gardener does a great job of investigating both personal righteousness and political justice at the same time. A film this broad has to be good to pull this off.
In the end, the only thing in the film that is lacking is the title (which doesn’t really tell people anything about the story). So if it is not about gardening, what is it about? Love, plain and simple. Along the way, we learn about all the complexities of the lives of the characters, but in the end (literally) we come back to love. Love. What is love? What does "Love at any cost" look like? Great films leave us with more questions than answers. So, see the flick and talk amongst yourselves.
The story is set in Kenya, and centers around the lives of Justin (Ralph Fiennes) and Tessa (Rachel Weisz) Quayle. When Tessa is murdered, Justin is driven to discover the reason, and uncover his wife’s past. What begins as a murder-mystery soon becomes much more. A vast political conspiracy was being investigated by Tessa when she died, and now it is up to Justin to tell the truth.
Everyone on the planet is now well-aware of the health epidemic in Africa, but what are people doing about it? Well, in the film a handful of drug companies and financial opportunists decide that there is a vast wealth of money to be made. How? By using the Africans as guinea pigs. Is all human life sacred? What about people who will most likely die very soon? What if their sacrifice, unbeknownst to them, saved money and lives out in "the Western World"? Would anyone care if "expendable" Africans died for a "greater good"? How far would you personally go to do something about it? Would you sacrifice your reputation, your relationships, your career, your life? These are the questions raised by the film.
Fiennes performs convincingly, as usual, but Weisz steals the show. The passion for truth and justice in Tessa’s life shines through Weisz’s words. By the end of the film women, and men too, want to be more like Tessa, to make a difference in a real and powerful way.
Mereilles’ talent is evident throughout the film. (By the way, Mereilles’ first film, City of God, is fantastic, in case you were wondering). Not only is the story and acting intriguing, but the film is beautiful and visually stunning. The colors jump off the screen, and the exposure of the film almost burns your eyes. The film starts at the death of Tessa, and from there moves both forward and backward, filling in pieces along the way and confirming or abolishing our presuppositions about the truth. At times, the plot seems to have too many confusing details, but stick with it. Not every little piece has to make sense, because life is complicated, and often does not fit together perfectly in our minds.
The Constant Gardener does a great job of balancing global humanitarian activism with the sacred love between a man and a woman. It inspires us to seek out justice on a large scale, and love those who are next to us passionately. It takes a great deal of talent and hard work to pull this off. Though a "murder-mystery," the film does not linger in the well-trod ground of predictability; though a romantic film, it does not get sappy. The emotions are raw, and though not "based on a true story" the script is perfectly plausible.
Christ calls us to love all people, at any cost. We are to take care of the poor, the sick, the needy. Whether there is a pharmaceutical conspiracy or not, there are very real and pressing opportunities to help those in desperate need throughout Africa. Christ is calling us to action, let us not be silent. Jesus also desires us to live lives of righteousness, acting with love and truth in all that we do. Gardener does a great job of investigating both personal righteousness and political justice at the same time. A film this broad has to be good to pull this off.
In the end, the only thing in the film that is lacking is the title (which doesn’t really tell people anything about the story). So if it is not about gardening, what is it about? Love, plain and simple. Along the way, we learn about all the complexities of the lives of the characters, but in the end (literally) we come back to love. Love. What is love? What does "Love at any cost" look like? Great films leave us with more questions than answers. So, see the flick and talk amongst yourselves.
2 comments:
i'm so glad you recommended this movie to me. although it was long ago, i finally got around to watching it awhile back. i do agree- it's a great movie and it did motivate me.
God doesn't call us to save the world. that's his job. but we can love the people around us and those far away from us when give the opportunity.
This movie is so inspirational to me (which you know b/c you say Rachel's character reminds you of me). I was having my nails done at Beau Visage a couple weeks ago (which I only do like once a year... I hate to sound like an American consumer here) and the gal doing your mom's nails is going to school for microbiology. She has an idea for a cure for AIDS. Well, I couldn't resist gently playing the devil's advocate and I asked her some logistical questions. Then came the ethical questions. She said she would not exploit tests on people, but I still recommended this movie to her. Then your mom and I discussed this issue further during our pedicures. I think we as Americans are so concerned with being on top and living a seemingly comfortable lifestyle that we try to fix or hide/ignore these types of things. A cure would give hope, but where would the finances, social & economic re-structuring, cultural norm and bias revamping, education of the people, and spiritual deliverance come into play? Just because we have a cure does not mean the culture will accept or be able to implement it. I think that might be a reason why the pharmecuetical companies are able to abuse people in the film. And we have to be careful not to come at it from the angle of Americanizing Africa. What about improving the quality of life by touching those who are already ill? Yes Jesus did heal people's bodies, but the healing wasn't the point. Touching people, showing them tangible love, and providing healing for their souls, seems to me to be more of His focus. If their bodies are healed, too, then that's a bonus. I think the cure-all tactic is like putting sick elderly people in SNFs. We leave them in a sterile, depressing environment we've created while trying to get them "well".
Post a Comment