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August 09, 2005
Constant Gardener's first bloom
Former NY Times Book Review editor Charles McGrath sounds a first call for the remarkable Constant Gardener: "After the success of City of God [director Fernando] Meirelles found himself much in demand. He was even offered Collateral... But he is not a fan of big studio movies and he turned all his suitors down. He [met] with [producer Simon] Channing Williams, however, because he is a great admirer of... Mike Leigh, and Mr. Channing Williams has produced a number of Mr. Leigh's films. [He] gave Mr. Meirelles the... script, and Mr. Meirelles, who as it happens had just been visiting Kenya himself, signed on virtually overnight... [There's] a remarkable sense of place: a vivid evocation of the Kenyan landscape and cityscape in one of Nairobi's most down-and-out neighborhoods, through which sewage flows in open, rag-cluttered trenches; and tracking shots of Kibera, Nairobi's sprawling, tin-roofed shantytown, which are as enthralling as they are disturbing..." Writing about class, the Times, of course, must write about first class: "Though Mr. Meirelles had never made a film outside Brazil... Mr. Channing Williams said he wasn't worried [because] "at a certain level, filmmaking is just filmmaking." Mr. Meirelles [added] that the main difference between [this film] and other films he had worked on was that "the wine is better; you travel first class."
Posted by pride at August 9, 2005 12:02 AM
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