Tagline: Love. At Any Cost.
Based on the best-selling John le Carré novel, this takes place in a remote area of Northern Kenya, activist Tessa Quayle (Rachel Weisz) is found brutally murdered. Tessa’s companion, a doctor, appears to have fled the scene, and the evidence points to a crime of passion. Members of the British High Commission in Nairobi assume that Tessa’s widower, their mild-mannered and unambitious colleague Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), will leave the matter to them.
They could not be more wrong. Haunted by remorse and jarred by rumors of his late wife’s infidelities, Quayle surprises everyone by embarking on a personal odyssey that will take him across three continents. Using his privileged access to diplomatic secrets, he will risk his own life, stopping at nothing to uncover and expose the truth – a conspiracy more far-reaching and deadly than Quayle could ever have imagined.
From Fernando Meirelles, the Academy Award-nominated director of “City of God,” comes a gripping new film that sweeps audiences along one man’s emotional and global journey to uncover the truth behind a personal loss and a worldwide conspiracy.
Two-time Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz head the cast of the romantic thriller “The Constant Gardener,” adapted by Jeffrey Caine from the novel of the same name by John le Carre and filmed on location in Berlin, London and Nairobi and numerous other parts of Kenya.
The international filmmaking team behind “The Constant Gardener” includes producer Simon Channing Williams (Academy Award nominee for “Secrets & Lies”), director of photography Cesar Charlone (Academy Award nominee for Mr. Meirelles’ “City of God”), editor Claire Simpson (Academy Award winner for “Platoon”), production designer Mark Tildesley (“28 Days Later”) and costume designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux (“Dirty Pretty Things”).
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In a remote area of Northern Kenya, the region’s most dedicated activist, the brilliant and passionate Tessa Quayle (Rachel Weisz), has been found brutally murdered. Tessa’s traveling companion, a local doctor, appears to have fled the scene, and the evidence points to a crime of passion. Sandy Woodrow (Danny Huston), Sir Bernard Pellegrin (Bill Nighy) and the other members of the British High Commission assume that Tessa’s widower, their mild-mannered and unambitious colleague Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), will leave the matter to their discretion. They could not be more wrong…
This career diplomat’s equilibrium has been exploded by the loss of the woman he was deeply devoted to. They were opposites whose attraction sustained a marriage, the memories of which now spur Justin to take decisive action for the first time in his life and diplomatic career. Haunted by remorse and jarred by rumors of his wife’s infidelities, Justin surprises himself by plunging headlong into a dangerous odyssey.
Determined to clear his wife’s name and “finish what she started,” Justin embarks on a crash course to learn about the pharmaceutical industry, whose crimes Tessa was on the verge of uncovering, and journeys across two continents in search of the trust. His eyes are soon opened to a vast conspiracy at once deadly and commonplace, one that has claimed innocent lives – and is about to put his own at risk.
These production notes provided by Focus Features.
The Constant Gardener
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Anthony LaPaglia, Pernilla August, Danny Huston
Directed by: Fernando Meirelles
Screenplay by: Jeffrey Caine
Release Date: August 31th, 2005
MPAA Rating: R for language, some violent images and sexual content / nudity.
Studio: Focus Features
Box Office Totals
Domestic: $33,579,797 (40.7%)
Foreign: $48,886,873 (59.3%)
Total: $82,466,670 (Worldwide)