The Constant Gardener (film)
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The Constant Gardener is an Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe Award-winning 2005 film. It is based on the novel of the same title by John le Carré. It tells the story of Justin Quayle, who finds his wife murdered and seeks to uncover the reasons behind her death. Directed by Brazilian Fernando Meirelles, of City of God fame, the film stars Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz, and was released on August 31, 2005.
The story was filmed in Loiyangalani and the slums of Kibera, Kenya. The situation affected the cast and crew to the extent that they set up the Constant Gardener Trust in order to provide basic education around these villages. Weisz, Fiennes, and Le Carré are patrons of the charity. Most critics enjoyed the cinematography and the depth of character as portrayed by the actors and writers.
Locations
- Nairobi, Kenya, British High Commission
- London, England, Gentleman's club
- Hannover, Germany, NGO clearing house
- Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, research lab (the KDH lab at the end is actually the Royal Canadian Mint in Winnipeg)
- Lokichokio, Northern Kenya
- Southern Sudan, refugee camp
- Italy, small village
Awards
The film was nominated for the 2005 Golden Globe Awards in the following categories: best film, best director and best supporting actress (Rachel Weisz). Weisz won the Best Supporting Actress at the 2005 Golden Globes for her performance in the film, as well as the 2005 Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role. On January 31, 2006, the film was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, and Best Supporting Actress for Weisz, which she won. In their home country, it has led the BAFTA nominations with 10 categories including both Best Film and Best British Film. Weisz and Fiennes were nominated for the leading role category at the BAFTA. It instead won only one BAFTA for Best Editing by Claire Simpson. Weisz and Fiennes, however, have won the leading role awards at the London Critics Circle Film Awards and British Independent Film Awards. Weisz has in fact won five awards for the film altogether. The film itself won top prizes for Best Film respectively. Overall to date, the film has won 14 awards and a further 38 award nominations.
- For full awards results for this film, go to the IMDB link for [Awards for The Constant Gardener].
Criticism & Controversy
Critics contend that both the movie and book failed to use the opportunity to level realistic and needed criticism of the pharmaceutical industry and the plight of Africa. Instead, they argue, both mediums created an unrealistic, naive and almost laughable plot typical of many in the paranoid thriller genre but less entertaining or believable than the best of them [1]. Equally adamant, the films supporters point out tragic corruption such as that depicted in a Washington Post article from December 2000 [2] wherein a clinical trial conducted by Pfizer in Nigeria in 1996 children were allegedly used to test Trovan (that had been proven efficacious in adults but not in children). And in turn, critics of the movie point out that a company still has no profit motive in purposely developing a dangerous drug, particularly in light of the lawsuits that would create in the west (the plot is still flawed). Other critics point to pro-third world measures that the industry has enacted, such as "Merck's Gift" wherein billions of free drugs were donated to cure River Blindness in Africa, or Pfizer's gift of free/discounted fluconazole and other drugs in AIDs-ravaged South Africa, or GSK's development of a treatment for chloroquine-resistant malaria despite a lack of profit potential.
DVD release dates
U.K.: March 13, 2006
See also
External links
- [}}} }] at the Internet Movie Database
- [}}}] at Rotten Tomatoes
- [}}}] at Box Office Mojo
- [Constant Gardener Trust]
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