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Title: | The Constant Gardener |
Score (out of 10): | 10 | | REVIEW: | The Constant Gardner is the second film by Director Fernando Meirelles. His first, City of God was nominated for Best Foriegn Film last year, and was one of my top five all time favorite movies. I had high hopes for this movie based on the director's reputation as well as the fact that Ralph Fiennes was in it. Add to this a couple of strong reviews by Roger Ebert (four stars) and the New Yorker, and I was set-up for dissapointment based on too-high expectations.
Well I am happy to report that it lived up to my expectations. Without giving up too much of the plot, the movie is based on a Joh LeCarre novel in which a Foriegn Service Officer brings his newlywed firebrand liberal wife with him to Kenya where she is mysteriously murdered within the first five minutes of the movie. The postmodern storytelling that takes place after that with flashbacks combining with the husband falling progressively more in love with his dead wife makes for an engrossing corporate/government/pharma spy story and a moving love story. Merielles sets many of his shots with intriguing angles and beautiful lighting contrasts. Many of which are a dramatic shifting of focus between characters in a scene. He is also very adept at using multiple media forms in film. For example, he frequently focuses in on statues or parts of statues to emphasize a point. He also uses streaming video and chat rooms online for the first time in a movie where it doesn't look like it is still the 90's.
All in all, I was very moved by the story and impressed by the film making. I would like to watch it again to pick up things I missed in relation to both the story and the art of the filming. It left me relishing the importance of doing something with your life that matters. Be it for the sake of saving the world, for the love of your wife, or the redemption of your own soul. . | | Best Quote | Only God knows everything -- he works for Mossad." |
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