DIGGING UP THE PAST

[August 31st, 2005] Director Fernando Meirelles' 2002 City of God was that rare film that not only earned all the positive critical praise it received, it deserved even more. Meirelles' latest feature film, an adaptation of John Le Carré's political thriller, may not be as powerful as City of God, but it's no less worthy of praise. And in a year that has thus far netted only a small handful of compelling dramas, The Constant Gardener is an oasis of emotional complexity in a desert of insipid, teen-friendly pandering that passes for film.

In an understated performance brimming with nuance and subtlety, Ralph Fiennes stars as Justin Quayle, an unassuming British diplomat living in Kenya. Justin's wife is Tessa (Rachel Weisz), who, in extreme contrast to her husband, is an impassioned activist out to save the world. Their relationship is a study in opposites-she's always looking for a cause to champion, while he's content in his graden-but their love and passion is undeniable. When Tessa is found brutally raped and murdered, Justin begins to search for the answers to what exactly happened, even though the evidence indicates that among other things, his wife was having an affair. But as the otherwise complacent Justin digs deeper and deeper into his wife's tragic fate, he finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy-riddled world of deception and double-dealing.

At a time when most films forsake human drama for car chases and explosions, The Constant Gardener, while striking a balance between the love story and the political thriller, favors the notion that the story of people is more interesting. "I could have gone to make it as a thriller or a political drama, but I felt the love story was really, really strong so I decided to make the love story the axle of this film," said Meirelles during a recent phone interview. "My feeling is that thriller and the political drama is more like a backstory."

Working with cinematographer César Charlone, whose saturated camerawork gave City of God much of its style, Meirelles once again has crafted a visually beautiful film that works in contrast to the stark content of the film. The combined eyes of Meirelles and Charlone have a keen knack for finding beauty in the squalor of world slums, be they in Brazil or Kenya. And just as the slums and people of Brazil were an integral part of the portrait Meirelles was painting in City of God, so too do Kenya and its people become supporting players in The Constant Gardener. "I'm not trying to show things that other people don't want to show; I'm trying to show things that I'm interested in showing or understanding or seeing," says the director. "I think that coming from a developing country like Brazil-you can understand where this interest comes from."