As I left the cinema last night with my hand buried into Steve’s, I felt more like I was leaving a funeral than a movie theatre. I was exhausted by the two-hour intense rollercoaster of feelings that The Constant Gardener forced me into: curiosity, suspicion, grief, guilt, disbelief. And an overwhelming sense of injustice.

 

The Constant Gardener is the latest in a long line of films that have opened my eyes and heart to the injustices of our world. It’s a well-told story of a husband’s grief over his wife’s death, and his subsequent quest to find the culprits of her demise.

 

Juxtaposing the breath-taking landscape of Kenya and Sudan with the corruption and poverty of modern-day Africa, The Constant Gardener is no patronising nod to the needs of a continent. It’s a brutal wake up call to the Western World told through the micro-narrative of a love story in reverse.

 

Played with excellent realism by Ralf Fiennes, British diplomat Justin Quaile becomes more and more desperate to expose his own nations’ exploitation of the vulnerable AIDS population of Kenya.

 

As he moves in his conviction to finish his wife's crusade against injustice, I was forced to ask myself: how far will an ordinary man go to defend a people group he could never know personally?

As I’ve travelled throughout Europe and a small part of North Africa, I’ve always felt an embarrassed guilt at how vastly superior my quality of life is to millions of people living in poverty today. The advice always given to tourists and travellers is, ‘ignore them...they might be con artists... you can’t help them all...’ But I was deeply challenged by Justin’s simple, yet obvious, reply…

 

 

 It’s strange that messages like this aren’t coming from the global Church but instead from Hollywood, the music industry and the Entertainment world in general.

 

Though the Constant Gardener isn’t a film made by a Christian community its theme is definitely inspired by the image of God: sacrifice, justice, truth, love, poverty, going the extra mile, loving your African brother more than yourself.

 

I love that God’s love of justice is reflected in all of humanity - even if we don’t always chose to demonstrate it. The Constant Gardner is a well made, well acted fictional drama that touches on real issues for the 21st Century Global community; beautiful, brutal and challenging.

 

Additionally, I defy anyone to watch it and not feel their hearts respond to the power and momentum of the film's thumping sound track.

---

 

Carla Trundle works in the 24-7 International office in Chichester, UK. She administers prayer rooms across the globe, co-hosts a Transit team, and makes everyone tea, coffee or hot chocolate with a humbling spirit of hospitality. She also loves movies...