Michael Suarez
What does it mean to love someone? When it comes to something so abstract and subjective, I tend to turn to the dictionary for guidance, but that doesn’t really help us now, does it? A definition is not the answer to that question. I want to know what it means. Connection? Devotion? What about support, loyalty, and dedication? Is it all of these things and more? More to the point, how do we know if we are in love, and when we are in love, how can we know what it means?
These questions came to mind during my rewatch of The Constant Gardener. I saw the film in theaters when it came out in late summer 2005, and it was on replay for me quite a bit the year after I bought it on DVD. It’s been well over ten years since I’ve seen the film, and I must say, it might very well be a masterpiece. It has a lot to say about corruption, the medication industry, racism, and the dangers of altruism. The thing that stood out to me most this time, though, was how the film’s two leads both loved one another in different ways.
The film doesn’t try to suggest that one’s love was stronger than the others, though I could see how one might come away with that conclusion. After all, it appears Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes, who is truly outstanding in the film) didn’t really know his wife, Tessa (Rachel Weisz, who earned an Academy Award for Supporting Actress), that well. But can I honestly say that he didn’t love her? No, I can’t. Justin clearly loved Tessa, but I also see him fall more in love with her as he begins to learn more about her. That’s okay, I think.
To me, love doesn’t have a maximum. We don’t reach a certain height, and there’s no more love to be had. That’s silly. I think we’re all capable of more, and part of what makes Justin’s journey in the film so compelling isn’t the corruption he’s uncovering (though that is very thrilling at times); it’s the way he begins to see things more clearly. By the film’s end, when his final word is “Tessa,” I know Justin loves Tessa more than he ever did when she was alive. But what does that mean?
The Constant Gardener tells the story of a diplomat, Justin, who falls in love with an activist, Tessa. It’s a film told out of sequence, which moves things along nicely. Following Tessa’s death within the first few minutes, there are a lot of flashbacks in the first third of the film, where we’re shown a very quick version of Justin and Tessa’s relationship, from the start until the end of it. In these flashbacks, we’re shown a version of Tessa who seems fine with Justin, but who is more concerned with her political beliefs and political actions. She’s admirable, but one gets the sense that she uses Justin’s position in order to find ways to get things done. There are rumors of an affair between her and her friend Arnold (Hubert Koundé), as well as seemingly sexual favors between her and Justin’s friend Sandy (Danny Huston).
Soon, the flashbacks catch up to the film’s opening moments, and we’re back in the present for the duration of the film. Well, for the most part. As Justin begins to uncover what most likely got Tessa (and Arnold) killed, as well as who did it, Justin learns things about Tessa that she held close to the vest. No, she did not have an affair with Arnold, because he’s gay. No, she never traded sex for information with Sandy, though she did make Sandy think she’d do that. And no matter how far her activist actions went, she always had Justin in her mind. Why did she keep so much from him? Because she wanted him safe. Because she loved him.
Do I buy this? I absolutely do. Tessa’s way of loving someone differs from mine, but if I believe that people can be as different as Justin and Tessa, I can believe people can love differently. Who am I to judge? I do know that the more Justin digs into things, that he begins to put himself in danger and eventually loses his life, something his wife did not want for him. Turns out she was right, in her way, to keep him away from all of this. Not to mention that a lot of the corruption that killed Tessa and ultimately kills Justin involves those closest to him. She clearly would’ve wanted to shield him from that. Tessa understands that Justin is weaker than her, but she never saw that as a weakness. She wanted him to remain himself. I don’t know. That’s kind of beautiful to me.
That said, I can understand Justin’s hurt and frustrations during the film’s first half, because without certain information, it can definitely appear that Tessa is cold and unloving. One can be forgiven for not trusting her for a while. It does look like she only involves herself with him so that she can meet certain people and travel to Africa, but thankfully, there’s more to it than that. Still, it’s a shame we don’t get a full character out of Tessa, because all we have are flashbacks and details from the people who knew her. We never truly get her perspective. I suppose there’s something to the idea that we never truly know anyone, even those with whom we’ve chosen to live our lives. But I love that Justin gets a clearer picture by the film’s end.
Now, let’s talk about that end. Basically, Tessa was on to something. It involved people she and Justin knew, and to keep her quiet, she was killed. Justin figures it all out, and before his own death at the hands of those same people, he gets word out. In the world of the film, do those who were involved get their comeuppances? I’m not sure, though I do want to believe that. In real life, I doubt anything would come of the information, but who am I to say?
The Constant Gardener is not really about politics or the disgusting way first-world countries use and abuse those in the third world, but it doesn’t look away from any of that. Love, though, is the main concept of the work. It’s about two different people who found and loved one another. If I can understand why two people would hold different views of the world, why can’t I also believe that two people would love differently?
Justin’s love seems the most innocent. He cares for her and wants the best for her, even if that means he sometimes doesn’t know a big part of her life. Justin is okay with that because he knows that Tessa is off being Tessa, and he wouldn’t want that any other way. That’s beautiful to me, as is Tessa’s love. She sees to it that Justin is protected as much as she is able, and I can stubbornly hold my ground and ask, “Why, Tessa? Why keep Justin in the dark about so many things? Didn’t you think he could handle it?” Is it fair that the film suggests that she was right to think this way?
Then again, Justin barrels ahead in the film’s second half, determined to figure out the truth. All he can do is figure things out, even if it means putting himself in harm’s way, the very thing Tessa did not want for him. Still, I can understand that, too. The more Justin understands who Tessa was and why she did what she did, the more in love with her he falls. And he is just one man, which is why it makes sense that he is killed in the last few minutes of the film. This is not a movie destined to end in a big action set piece. His death is quiet, reserved, just the way he lived his life, except in his last moment, he is thinking about Tessa.
What does this mean? Whether or not things change based on Justin’s letter is besides the point. I can see how someone would think that both Tessa and Justin fail in their investigations. I don’t see that. After all, if the film is about love more than anything else, I suppose the film is arguing that love conquers all. It can conquer death, given that Justin’s love only grows stronger after Tessa’s murder. Love can conquer the fear that Justin feels the deeper he goes, spurred on by the memory of his beloved. Finally, love is there to bring him peace in those final moments. It’s an ending not for the cynical. Perhaps that’s why I love it so much.
It’s been two decades since the film premiered, and it doesn’t feel dated all that much, aside from some technology here and there. Looking at the thriller aspect, it genuinely sucks that such an investigation on Tessa and Arnold’s part would most likely result in a similar outcome now. Moreover, the ending would certainly imply that those responsible would go on to live their lives, while the lives of Justin, Tessa, Arnold, and others are taken away. In this sense, The Constant Gardener feels timeless. Add on to what it has to say about love, and I must conclude that the film is a near masterwork, a stunning examination of what it means to love and be loved.
Director Fernando Meirelles (of City of God fame) directed the heck out of this film, and the script by Jeffery Caine is a solid adaptation of John le Carre’s original novel, certainly in spirit. The film was nominated for and won a lot of awards that year, so I can’t call it underrated in that sense. However, it doesn’t get the love it should. Perhaps most don’t see the film the way I do. That’s okay.
We see the world differently, and only when we understand that our similarity comes from those differences can we see one another. Justin and Tessa should not have worked, yet they did. I don’t see the end of their story as tragic. I see that despite everything, their love for each other never wavered. It stayed until the end. The Constant Gardener asks that we do the same.
