The film ‘The Constant Gardener’ directed by Fernando Meirelles, I agree, is used as a means to critique our society. The character of Justin Quayle, a British High Commission Diplomat, is used by the director to reflect society. We see this in the beginning of the film where his ignorance leads to a false perception of reality, which highlights the 2 major themes in the film of Truth and Perception and Guilt and Atonement. Justin uses gardening as a means to feed this ignorance, just as society itself uses work, family and other matters to hide from the harsh reality. But as his wife Tessa dies under unusual circumstances it leads Justin into the real world, where the truth can no longer be covered up and he must follow the road to atonement.
In an early scene of the film, Justin, like society is consciously removed from reality. Before this scene we are shown wide and establishing shots of Lake Tuitakana in Africa where we see mars-like images of the red sands and bright blue water streaked across the landscape. This scene then fades into the British High Commission Embassy, where there is a complete contrast in colours. We instead get a Wide Shot of the building with dull colours of grey and dark greens and blues. This shot also shows Justin “skiving” as he waters his plants. Although he is in charge of Aid distribution in Kenya, he is choosing to remain in his own perfect world “a world with no weeds”, where he stays in the office and has never once gone outside of the British High Commission. When Sandy breaks the news to Justin about Tessa being dead, a close up on Justin’s face is held for an amazing 48 seconds. It allows the viewer to watch his emotion unravel as the news unfolds. But because as he has been so removed from reality due to his false perception, just as society can be also, the news appears only to shock him as we see no other emotion. Society like Justin in this situation can also be ignorant as we perceive that we do live in the perfect world sometimes, but in real life the truth may not be so. Justin’s conscious ignorance towards Tessa’s work in Africa and his desire to Garden has now led him to beginning to understand that he may be partially accountable for her death as not only did others betray her, but he “betrayed her by gardening”.
A few scenes later, we get a flashback of Tessa in the slums in Nairobi, Kenya, as she shows that not all of society is ignorant. The Viewer is hit with establishing shots of the slums where we again see the bright colours showing the bustle of life through the slums, allowing us to have a sense of hope. Mid-shots of Tessa amongst the crowds of people show that she is fully engaged with the Kenyan people as they all watch an AIDS production. Close ups of the children and Tessa allow the viewer to understand the connection she has with the Kenyan people. Tessa does not remove herself from the harsh realities of society, but instead confronts it where she can. This is shown in contrast to the dull atmosphere of paragraph one which is shot also in Kenya, the director successfully shows that society can occasionally have people who make a difference. Tessa compared to Justin lives in reality and is actively trying to help the Kenyan people, she is not trapped by a false perception. As a result of this reality, Tessa knows the drug companies are hurting these people, and so she writes a report exposing this fact which in the end causes her contracted death by the companies. Justin is told multiple times that he “has to do something about Tessa” as she is embarrassing the British High Commission, but because she is such a strong minded character as she is “not going to take no for an answer”, she does not stop. In this scene the director uses the character of Tessa to show that society is not all bad, and that there is the sense of fearlessness shown through her.

Later in the film, we see Justin finally beginning to face reality after Tessa’s death, showing that society can have the potential to change from ignorance. Justin goes back to Tessa’s house which is where they both first got to know each other, as he now owns it. Throughout this present scene we are constantly getting quick flashbacks of his earlier memories where both Tessa and Justin are at the house together. The director’s use of contrasting colour allows us to understand his emotions and also his mood. The flashbacks have a slight peachy tone which allows us to feel compassion and love, but the present is dull with colours of grey and black as it rains, showing his sadness and his loss. Further in the scene through the use of the strings and also the use of close ups on Justin’s face through the window, we begin to understand his isolation. Furthermore, by the Extreme Close ups on his face still through the window and the rain, we see him finally showing emotion through a catharsis which shows his struggle of understand reality. Slowly then as the African music including drumming begins to accompany the scene, the flashbacks and voice overs begin to increase in speed, which creates a confusing and overwhelming scene. This is also shown through the use of the shallow focus. Justin in anger due to confusion and sadness then rapidly begins trying to clean her dying gardens as we hear through the voice overs that he tells her “you say you’re all into saving lives around the world but you let your poor plants die”. This anger and grief is driven by the guilt he bears because he believes that he “failed her” as he “lost faith in her”. In the end of the scene through the use of the Dutch Tilt we see Justin sitting upset with the garden and himself, which is finally his realisation that he can no longer use gardening as a means to hide from reality. Society is like Justin in this way as sometimes we need something like Tessa to allow us to see the truth, and once we have experienced the truth there is no going back. Lastly, Justin comes to realise that he has “to finish what she started” and goes on a journey into seeking the truth as an act of atonement for his actions.
In conclusion, this film ‘The Constant Gardener’ uses the characters of Justin and Tessa to show society. The director Fernando Meirelles shows us that often society can be ignorant towards the truth, but sometimes there are people or things that can change that like Tessa, who show that there is hope after all for society. Guilt and Atonement and Truth and Perception are also key themes which help to highlight the contrast between the 2 main characters but also the similarities in the end. This film enables us to take away the idea that ignorance is a conscious thing, and it is up to us to make our own choices regarding the truth. Therefore through the journey of the character of Justin, the director uses this film as a means to critique society.