The Constant Gardener

The Constant Gardener is a drama and a thriller film. The main issues in the film are love, politically conflicts and revenge. The Constant Gardener was directed in 2005 by Fernando Meirelles. The film is based on a novel with the same name. Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz are acting as Justin and Tessa Quayle who are two of the main characters in the film. By watching the film you get an impression of the relations between the western world and the third world countries. Justin Quayle is the main character in the film. The whole film is based on his life and his seeking for the truth about his wife’s death. During his search for the truth he reveals a dangerous conspiracy that deals with the big and powerful medical drug companies and corrupt politicians.

Plot
Most of the setting takes place in Africa, but some is also taking place in England and Germany. In the beginning of the film you get to know Justin Quayle and his wife Tessa. Justin is a British diplomat and works in Africa and Tessa is an activist who wants to help all suffering people in the world. Early in the film Tessa gets killed, and Justin becomes really shocked and miserable. He doesn’t understand why someone would kill Tessa, because she was a nice person that only wanted to help people.

During the film Justin is trying to find out the truth about his wife’s death. When he is searching for the truth he reveals much more. Justin has to deal with corrupt politicians and big and powerful medical drug companies that are only thinking about money. He travels to England, Germany and around in Africa to find people that worked with Tessa. Sir Bernard Pellegrin, who is head of the Foreign Office, and corrupt members of the British High Commission doesn’t want Justin to uncover the truth about what Tessa was working with. Justin Quayle becomes a wanted man and has to travel around the world with no passport and no place to stay. He is constantly moving towards his goal by finding the truth.

Main characters
Justin Quayle
Justin Quayle is a British diplomat who works in Africa. His character changes during the film. In the beginning of the film he is not really interested in the situation in Africa and he doesn’t care so much about the suffering people. One time in the film Tessa wants to help an African boy, but Justin stops her and tells her that it is not helpful to help only one African boy when the whole country is suffering. Later in the film when Tessa gets killed Justin’s character changes. He becomes more aware of the situation in Africa and he really wants to help the suffering people in Africa. At one scene in the film he tries to give a man a lot of money for saving a small African girls life.

Tessa Quayle
You get to learn Tessa Quayle’s character in the beginning of the film. She is a very caring activist and thinks that if everyone works together the world can develop to be a better world for everyone. Tessa works for the rights of the suffering people in Africa and she gets killed for constantly trying to help others.

Sandy Woodrow
Sandy is Justin’s friend and the British high commissioner. Sandy and Justin work together and in the beginning of the film it seems like they have a good relationship. In the film Sandy betrays both Justin and Tessa and he starts working against them.

Sir Bernard Pellegrin
Sir Bernard Pellegrin is the bad guy in the film. He is head of the Foreign Office and Justin’s boss. He is also a powerful man with many connections. In the film you learn that Pellegrin only cares about money and power, he doesn’t care about the suffering people in the third world.

Conclusion (Personal opinion)
I liked this film very much. I think this film was educating, although I am not sure that the film is realistic. It is true that the western world has almost all the power over the third world countries and this we learned by watching the film. It is also true that big medical drug companies have great power, but I don’t think that they are only interested in money. I don’t think that a conspiracy like the one in the film could have taken place today, because we are more aware of the situation in Africa. I also think that new medical drugs would be checked more strictly in our days. I don’t think a medical drug that could cause more suffering would be tested or used on people.
My conclusion is that this is a fabulous and educating film if you want to learn something what happens in Africa and the relation between the western world and the third world countries.

MTV

Hello MTV!

Today the music television channel, known as MTV, shows more reality programs than music videos. I thought this channel was for the people who liked music and music videos, but this has changed. The reason why I watched MTV before was because of the music, but today I watch MTV just because of the cartoons and the prank shows. My favorite programs are Jackass, South Park and Pimp My Ride. If MTV wants to be famous for being a music channel they should show more music and less crap.

MTV shows too much crap. Reality shows like Laguna Beach and The Hills are television programs with no meanings. I think that MTV should start listen to their viewers and what they want to see. If MTV doesn’t act and change their television policy they would lose many viewers.