An unforgettable performance from Ralph and Rachel as they bring a story of compassion, social awareness and love that is so constantly needed in the world right now!
Focus Features in association with UK Film Council, Scion Films and Potboiler Productions present…
Adapted from one of the bestselling and critically acclaimed novels of David John Moore Cornwell (aka John le Carre) comes The Constant Gardener! A former spy turned novelist who worked with MI5 and MI6 in his prime. So far, all of his grand works has come into fruition already for the big screen adaptation which includes: The Spy Who Came In from the Cold – 1965, The Tailor of Panama – 2001 and the upcoming film with an all-star cast in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy set for a release in the Fall of 2011.
His vocation entails comparison and contrast at the same time with the timeless Ian Fleming who already made a name for himself before John started his career. They have this innate and intuitive passion for spies but with Ian’s fictional world renowned British Agent James Bond who deals with espionage and missions in an action oriented genre, John on the other hand collaborated more on his own hero George Smiley of the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) who is inclined on the psychological drama instead!
Another mind numbing performance that not only boasts an outstanding cast but a Production Crew that gave awe-inspiring and brilliantly made films that captured our imagination time and again! Nominated and awarded at the Oscars, Golden Globe and BAFTA (talk about flying colours). (Academy Awards and Golden Globe) for Best Supporting Actress – Rachel Weisz and (BAFTA) for Best Editing – Claire Simpson who gave us her outstanding achievement on the war epic drama Platoon!
From acclaimed Director Fernando Meirelles who brought us “City of God”! To give us more understanding to the film’s plot, another non-linear thriller that let us bring into full circle of past joys and for a tomorrow which we pray never come to engulf our hurts! Fernando, coming from Brazil gives more in depth analysis as he relates and share to the story a fully grasped understanding on the dealings of its Pharmaceutical companies and how much competencies they bring to the third world countries. By carefully manipulating those who are considered ignorant for self-preservation, he brings in Writer Jeffrey Caine who gives a fantastic Screenplay adaptation encompassing all the details that sets foot on a union of two completely different people across the continents that explodes in a chain reaction of events spiraling from deception, murder, conspiracy and the love of a man who holds the key in solving one of the biggest uproars in history! Set in locations from Berlin, London, Nairobi and especially Kenya where the main story that revolves in this film is guaranteed to open our eyes to the harsh facts about the governments, their plans about commercialism propaganda!
Academy Award Nominees Producer Simon Channing Williams and Photographer Cesar Charlone bring “more food on the table” and with the right collaboration and direction, this novel brings light to what is really happening around the world. Choosing Africa and the conditions they thrive on everyday has been captured immensely by these two very talented crew members!
A British Diplomat by the name of Justin Quayle a man whose zeal for his gardening and for his wife Tessa embraces the journey that he’s about to delve in and perhaps he’s not going to come back from! Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient) is extraordinary as always coming from his role of a more ambitious but incessantly evil “Sorcerer”, he is again brought back to the grounds of a real life VIP (Very Important Passivist) of a country surrounded by so much oppression, greed and power hungry individuals!
His wife, Tessa Quayle is portrayed by Rachel Weisz (The Fountain) a strong woman dedicated to her job by physically being on the hard lines, a humanitarian activist she wants to expose the real truth behind the illegal activities promulgated by a giant company that makes thousands of lives miserable and it’s only the tip of the iceberg! There is a good saying that “curiosity killed the cat” in which case it matters on whom or what got her in this predicament! Rachel has gone a long way of becoming a very respectable and admirable actress in the films she has been involved with and I hope more projects are in store for her!
The supporting casts add levity to the plot and to be honest! Yet, I was never a fan of Danny Huston (Robin Hood) in spite of his genuine acting I still consider him lack lustred for the roles his plays! He is Sandy Woodrow self indulgent and a scheming Acting Head for the Mission who tries desperately to get what he wants especially condoning with his lust for something more personal! Another VIP (Very Important Prick) is Sir Bernard Pellegrin conspired by Bill Nighy (The Boat that Rocked) a member of the British High Commission and Head of F.C.O (Foreign & Commonwealth Office) for Africa! Working with cynical people does bring home the bacon to so to speak and it is likely in the end that the truth does really hurt!
Outstanding, breath taking, forlorn and mesmerizing! It was intended to be a thriller but ended with a more subtle inclinations towards a love story melded with the corruption of society! No words are enough to describe this film; you really have to think through how this endearing so called marriage got so twisted and its repercussions so intense leaving wakes of shattered dreams and lives! I can only imagine someone would go so far as to compromise the people they love just to accomplish the ends with means even so moral and decent, can never control the general consensus! Someone could easily relate with the Quayle’s and seeing how this would go from end to finish, it will definitely keep you glued on the screen!
For Africa, its communities, children, women and men who survive everyday! I say to you, keep on fighting and keep on living for your dreams and your future. It could never be simpler to say how your hearts bleed with so much pain, the kind of treatment you face as a race is not without question undeserving and with this last statement…no matter how uncertain life maybe you can be certain that you are in our prayers!
THE SUBLIMINAL HERALD 