称不上惊悚片,政治、阴谋、名利的冲突,此类题材好莱坞用过好几次了,像这样平实的叙述倒是比较少见,只是缺少了悬疑气氛,应有的人物冲突和内心矛盾显得平淡无味,某些情节画蛇添足,而蕾切尔·薇兹能凭此片荣获最佳女配角多少有运气的成分。
Whoever has watched “City of God” would agree that the Brazilian director, Fernando Meirelles, is anything but mainstream.
Then we heard the plot line and review of the new movie “Constant Gardener”, positioned to be an international blockbuster. It was nothing but mainstream: John Le Carré’s best seller spy novel, today’s Kenya, Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, pharmaceutical Company, the poor, the rich, conspiracy theory, murder, revenge…
So how did the two look together?
The movie started rather slow, but I saw traces of Meirelles in the unusual rich palette, colorful background faded out like an oil painting–strike of blue and green; interesting camera angle and motion; a lighthearted love scene conjured together in clean lines and high contrast.
Just traces of him, made me wondering whether this would turn out to be another mistake. Another disappointment in the making…
Then came Africa, the ghetto of Kenya, living along the train track, and suddenly the camera and music and Meirelles were all came to live, they were lashing out with full force, alive, passionate, color, heat, rhythm. As an audience, I could feel the joy of the light, the liveliness of every smile, raw and simple.
Then we came back to the main story line, everything suddenly went back to the dead quiet. All that life, which was there a minute ago, suddenly was drained away. I could almost hear the sucking sound.
To be fair, Meirelles did a marvelous job, telling a mainstream story the mainstream way. And to be honest, I loved the story. I loved Ralph Fiennes. But it was so plain for all to see, Meirelles’ heart was not in it. This was not the story he wanted to tell. Or more precisely, this was not the angle of the story that he wanted to tell from. He would have been so much better if he could tell the story from within, from the heart of Africa, from the heart of the ghetto of Kenya. Rather than what he was given, to tell the story as an outsider, as a few white men and a white woman.
That said, oh, how I love the story.
I love the love story in the story. I love the subtleties of the doubt Justin had about Tesa, despite that he still loved her, and in that love he suffered so. He doubted her because he doubted himself. His insecurity and his ordinariness seemed so pale and feeble alongside the glamorous and passionate Tesa. In this world, is there a couple that loves each other mutually and confidently in equal share? Or is there always one that suffers the evil of insecurity?
Only in her death, he found out that she loved him truly, fully, and honestly. He felt guilty because he had doubted her but she never him. He continued to finish what she left behind, initially out of guilt, latter out of his own motivation.
It was not a feel good movie. Thanks to Meirelles. The ending made us all feel sick in our hearts. Like one viewer’s comment on yahoo movies.
"I work for a pharmaceutical Company. Though others would tell me that posting something like this would be irresponsible, I’ve seen enough to know the quiet truth…In places we don’t dig deep enough to compel ourselves to accountability.
"This film asks us to query what we do and who we are. It more importantly asks that we, in the West, search the importance of what we overlook."
A Quiet Truth
http://movies.yahoo.com/mvc/dfrv?mid=1808680118&rvid=255-548854&i=0&nn=1&spl=0&ys=45xJXdebwk9obpBKrHp2Zg--I’m in doubt whether this will make as much money as the preview positioned the movie to be. Mainstream audiences don’t like to pay money to feel bad about themselves. But I hope this movie will make enough money for Meirelles, so he could go back to make the movies he wanted to make.
Let a lion run wild, don’t tame him, please.
"根据JohnleCarre的畅销小说改编,《不朽的园丁》是主流电影里面最痛苦最绝望的.
“冷战给了西方政府完美的理由去抢夺、以自由的名义开发第三世界国家。”这本书的作者在2001年这样写道.
曾因导演《上帝之城》而获得奥斯卡提名的巴西导演费尔南多·梅里尔斯带来的这部电影对演员的把握也太棒了,泰莎的表演在电影里举足轻重,没有她,这个故事就撑不起来。 Rachel Weisz 凭《不朽的园丁》获第78届奥斯卡金像奖最佳女配角.这部电影的编剧,JeffreyCaine值得特别提到,就是他使这部由500页的小说改编的电影清晰而不累赘,当一个微不足道的人物在电影的最后,站在舞台的中央,揭穿每件事情的真相,包括这本书的作者也被吓坏了."
很喜欢的一部电影,刚开始看的时候还提不起什么兴趣,可看到后来才发现自己的肤浅.
只能说这是一部非常复杂的电影.我现在真是没办法写些评论性的语言.就说说印象深刻的地方,最后在苏丹,那个部落遭遇抢劫屠杀之后,空荡荡的只剩一个牵着一只小狗的小孩披着件破长衫在风中摇曳...还有在他们逃上飞机之后,被告知不允许带走小阿布时,那个孩子自己跳下了飞机跟着飞机一起跑...
"there is a child`s life,there are no rules to cover that!"
"look,there are thousands of them out there."
"This is the one we can help,here!"
突然之间我想我明白了最后他为什么那么平静的等待着死亡.因为也许不仅仅是因为他失去了爱人TESSA,或许是他终于明白在强大的权利和贪婪的欲望面前,他的力量,连一个小孩子的生命都挽救不了,那是一种对人世的绝望,和对这个世界的永远的放弃.
2007-03-25 20:53:35
还以为是个爱情故事,结果非但不是,而且阴暗的一毕,最后以男主角安静等待如期而至的杀戮为结局,丑闻虽然也被曝光,但非洲的饥饿和愚昧不会改变,在利益的驱使之下大国对非洲的掠夺和残害不会停止,丑闻的曝光只会引来更加黑暗的丑闻,正义苟延残喘,邪恶势力无可撼动。看到结尾,犹如堕入万丈深渊。
爱情的部分很阴暗,泰莎对非洲人民的爱心和对正义的捍卫超越了一切,让人觉得并不舒服,咄咄逼人的战士只能让我等敬畏,描述的直接一些,女主人公在一开始就利用了外交官,跟他结婚然后来到非洲调查药物事件,并且在调查的过程中勾引另一名政府官员同时是丈夫的好友以达到调查和揭露丑闻的目的。确实与我们的道德观不相符,但你看她挺着肚子催促当地人做艾滋病检疫,看到非洲小孩儿送给她废品做的风铃,最后她被残酷的杀死。只能说这个世界的复杂程度远远超越我们能理解的。
拉尔夫·费因斯(贾斯廷)没有饰演过一个幸福的角色,越是与世无争越是命运多舛,因为利用他的泰莎而卷入这场阴谋,因为对泰莎的爱开始亡命追查,最后坐在泰莎遇害的河边满怀对爱人的追忆等待生命的最后时刻,他的爱情和他本人都成了泰莎人道精神和捍卫正义的牺牲品。
印象深刻那个非洲小女孩儿从就要起飞的飞机上跳下来后奔跑在黄土里的身影,认命并且螳臂当车一样的奋力生存。
“我要去经历她受的苦”
我知道你和我有多么不同,但还是忍不住爱上你。文艺悬疑非洲问题,想说的太多结果失去了主次,片尾字幕才发现是根据John le Carré作品改编!片子三星,一星加给片尾曲和Ralph Fiennes。| 读了原著,电影去掉了许多细节,但是影片男主角对小说的再现非常棒,RF演技确实强悍。2014.2.6
非常好看啊,把爱情、官商勾结、非洲风光很好地结合到了这件追踪真相的悬疑案件里。到了后面随着闪回片段的越来越多,真是太心痛了唉,爱情的力量大就大在,一个人会不顾一切地追寻爱人的脚步。而这个世界残酷到理想主义者只能葬身一望无际的荒野吗?这不算是蕾切尔薇姿演得最好的一部但确实是最漂亮的
在弱之又弱的弱者面前,我们才更清楚地看到人类滔天的丑恶。
啊,这片真是太悲伤了,结尾是悲凄的美啊,看的好难受。景色美,色调美,音乐美,人美。
深入揭露了非洲的愚昧落后,西方世界的草菅人命等等。看完这部片子只有一个感受:人类还是毁灭了好了,免得玷污了美丽的地球和大自然。非洲太美了!但却有这样的贫穷与愚昧,还有无尽的罪恶。
我一直想说:国内关于非洲的电影太少太少了,我们对非洲了解少之又少!来过非洲才会发现,文明世界似乎真的把这里当成垃圾池。千里之外的苦难痛不到你,但是苦难依然是苦难。整个非洲是我们的罪。
道德,只能是反求诸己的自我完善,这也是它所有光芒的来源。
把风光片、纪录片、音乐片、旅游片、宣教片和公益片,同时融入了一部标准的悬疑片里。
社会问题,但是拍得实在有些套路
没有英国病人好看.今天飞机上放的.我真傻,看哭了.害旁边一个小姑娘递纸斤给我~
3.5,第三世界的孩子们满地跑是梅里尔斯这辈子最爱拍的镜头┑( ̄Д  ̄)┍
确实是一个很值得人肃然起敬的主题,人性在利益和强权面前变得不堪一击,道德沦丧,结党营私。非洲的小孩子们确实也太苦了,疾病缠身不说,死得还不明不白。不知道导演是有意为之还是怎么样,总之能把一个好故事拍的极尽冗长乏味之能事…PS.女主真是heroine
如果放在05来说,算是部好片,现在看来桥段老了。非洲问题不是得到天国的大力援助了吗?镜头语言太过明显了。不适。
你会变成你爱的那个人。
两个英国人 不远万里跑到肯尼亚 这是什么精神?额。。。此题材不对胃口 情节没惊喜 不过 如此单薄的底子 发挥颇上乘 配乐、剪接、摄影、表演都可圈可点 稍有泪点 还是值得推荐
光是看那一大片的非洲风光就很值得啊!!有一个泪点,肯亚的六岁小孩为了不耽误飞机起飞,懂事地毫无怨怼地下了飞机,她要足够的幸运才能安全到达难民营。——到了那一刻,他才明白,当初她那年轻而理想化的妻子坚持的是那么必要,我们不能救全世界的人,但我们一定能帮到那些力所能及的。什么时候这个世界才能让“理想化”这个词语消失,什么时候我们才会没有悲伤与愤怒。
漏洞不少…张力不够
高饱和度的色彩和极具异域风情的配乐为这部影片增色不少。政治题材的电影总是让人有敬而远之的刻板印象。不过本片试图用一种悬疑的手法来讲述一个充满人文关怀的故事。但恕我不太认同导演的叙事手段,后半段的拖沓和凌乱削弱了戏剧张力。结局还是有升华主题。奥斯卡是不是向来青睐有政治诉求的影片?
看了N次也没看完,受不了他的节奏