"The Constant Gardener" Starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz to Open London Gala

"The Constant Gardener", the new movie of the "City of God" director Fernando Meirelles based on the best-selling novel by John Le Carre, is to be released on August 31.

The film, which is in the running for Venice's Golden Lion award, will be curtain-opener for the London Film Festival on 19 October.

The British festival, which is due to screen 280 films from 60 countries, will close with George Clooney's "Good Night And Good Luck", on 3 November.

"The Constant Gardner" tells the story of one man's quest to uncover the truth behind a personal loss and a far more wide-ranging conspiracy.

In a secluded 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. (imdb.com)


I love the fact that's it's a retrospective love story, that it's told in flashback and there are a lot of assumptions that Ralph and the audience make about my character which are then revised as the film goes on. I think it's a beautiful narrative structure that's very original, Rachel Weisz told Cominsoon.net

I've always been fascinated by activists, people who will devote their life to a cause, people who go to India and to Africa and put their life in jeopardy to do what they believe is right. What I do for a living is completely different. I'm a storyteller and an entertainer. I'm nothing like my character, but I had a responsibility to do justice by these people, and I've always been fascinated by what makes these people tick. I'm in awe of people who do that. In reality, the main thing that keeps me awake at night is probably the destruction of the planet; that's what gets me pretty upset, she added.

Really meeting the people of Africa was the inspiration. I'd never seen poverty on that level ever in my life. It's very extreme: no sanitation, no running water and a very high level of disease. And yet, there was a kind of spiritual wealth that these people had that was so overwhelming, confessed Weisz.

What I love about the film is that I think it's all three things. It is a political thriller, it's very action packed and it's very exciting, but at the same time it's a very big and soulful love story about longing and loss. They're not separate, they're completely dependent on one another. As Ralph's character begins to discover the political thriller aspect of the film, he falls deeper in love with his wife, so the two run together.
That's the beauty of this film. It has a fast pace and excitement, but it also has heart and soul, the 34-year-old British actress concluded.