The Constant Gardner

Do all films set in Africa have to have, in their closing minutes, a scene of African children jumping and laughing around the camera? On the evidence of this and The Last King of Scotland the answer is yes. The shot in question is obviously taken from a Land Rover or some other motor vehicle moving slowly along an unsurfaced road and should be accompanied by some stirring yet melancholy music, probably slightly ethnic in a kind of generic way. Towards the end the film should slow down poignantly and maybe fade out. The message is that despite all the horror the children are our future, won't you please just think about he children?

Anyway, in spite of this, and a couple of other, shameless plays for our emotions this is a taught thriller with an interesting story behind it. It's reminiscent, in terms of pacing and complexity, of The Spanish Prisoner. My only criticism is that the technical precision of the film leaves the whole thing feels slightly dispassionate, just a bit too clinical, especially when placed next to the directors earlier effort, City of God. This style works brilliantly in the European settings but some how doesn't capture the heat and dust of Kenya.

Aside: Why is it that Latin American directors (I'm thinking of Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men) seem to be able to capture the essence of this country so well whilst our native directors (excepting Shane Meadows) often flounder. The scenes that take place around central London capture the kind of grand sterility of the architecture and the subdued palette brilliantly.

IMDB