Constant Gardener
The most striking part of the Constant Gardener for me comes in the end credits. On DVD you can pause and read the disclaimer from the author John Le Carre:
"Nobody in the story, and no outfit or corporation, thank God, is based upon an actual person or outfit in the real world. But I can tell you this. As my journey through the pharmaceutical jungle progressed, I came to realize that, by comparison with the reality, my story was as tame as a holiday postcard."
In addition, the credits dedicate the movie to Yvette Pierpaoli, an activist who died in the Balkans.
This put me to thinking about what sort of people travel to remote places and place themselves in danger while attempting to work with and help people on the receiving end of the white man's burden. Most of the activists who have died "in the field" have the sort of independent means of support that comes from middle or upper class background. (Marla Ruzicka also comes to mind). Although some may find this movie inspirational, most can not afford the finacial costs involved. If you feel inspired, let that lead you to act locally.
The DVD extras include an interview with the director, a Brazilian who brings a different sensibility to the film than what you usually see coming from Hollywood. The people in the villages and remote areas are not cardboard cut-outs grateful to be "saved" by do-gooders. They are shown as people. The interview with the director on the DVD extras is also very much of interest. He relates how while on location he asked a pharmaceutical executive what he would do in a similar situation as the one you see in the movie. The exec admitted he would attempt a cover up.
Cover up what? That is the question. The - entirely fictional - story focuses on a woman from a wealthy family (Rachel Weise) with a somewhat stogy but good-natured husband (Ralph Fiennes). He works for the British Foreign Ministry. She crashes boring guest lectures and makes them less boring. She accompanies him to an un-named African country where they come upon some mis-deeds by a big pharmaceutical company. The research firm under contract with the big pharma distributes AIDS medication but only if the recipients agree to participate in a trial of other medication. The side-effects are, to put it mildly, murder. And you will see more murders along the way.
Although not as confusing as Syriana, The Constant Gardener does require your full attention or you will come away confused. To make the parable "sellable" to a mainstream audience the story must focus on the love story and the aftermath of the wife's death. This provides the vehicle to deliver the plot (and its twists) to the audience. Watch carefully the scenes with Bill Nighy as these are the most entertaining and communicate much of the information you will need in order to follow the story line later on. The film also contains a somewhat unrealistic "up the establishment" sort of ending which you may find so satisfying that you will not object to how unlikely it is. As entertainment it works very well with very good acting and numerous memorable scenes, reminding me at times of The Third Man, (especially one very suspenseful scene).
