The Constant Gardener (2005)

I went for the film like an ignorant viewer – I hadn’t heard of the film, didn’t know it was based on the novel by John Le Carré and definitely didn’t know that it had won accolades at the Oscars. It was the opening film for the European Film festival organized jointly by the Alliance Française de Poona, Max Mueller Bhavan - Pune and the British Council - Pune at the Natinal Film Archives of India, Law college road, Pune – and that’s all I knew about it.

In a way my ignorance turned out to be for the good, since I went with absolutely no expectations and definitely no idea what the film was about! I walked away silenced and quite disturbed by the film’s portrayal of the immense betrayal and the double-standards that continue to be practiced by the “colonizers” against the “colonized” even though I was well aware that it still isn’t an equal world. The extent to which the “third-world” countries are exploited by the super-powers (in this case against the backdrop of the powerful pharmaceutical industry and a drugs being developed to combat killer diseases) has been brought to light with an almost brutal efficiency – the silences and the vast landscapes of Africa bring to fore the stark reality that we all pretend doesn’t exist. Even now, weeks after seeing the film I can’t obliterate the image of the white birds circling over a bleak terrain characterized by dry bushes, fecund swamps and a wildness that doesn’t even spare its human inhabitants. Even now I get goose bumps when the strains of the haunting African soundtrack flash through my mind. Yet, despite this impact the film has had on me, I know I’m not going to do anything about it, that I shall move onto the next topic of interest and this too shall fade away forgotten in the pursuit of more inane matters. And I think to myself – am I any better than those that colonize(d), oppress(ed) and exploit(ed)?

The film is definitely worth watching for its brilliant treatment of subject and for the acting par excellence by Ralph Fiennes – I am, however, not convinced by recognition Rachel Weisz got for her role that made its impact more by its absence than its presence. The character certainly deserves a mention, but in terms of acting – from my point of view, she was barely around to act and it certainly wasn’t exceptional! Ralph Fiennes, on the other hand, is superlative, as usual!