The Constant Gardener

I fancied a bit of a change from the energy stuff that I have been reading and watching lately and so I decided that, this week, my Geography film would be the Constant Gardener as it presents a totally different branch of Geography from the ones I have been learning about recently.

This film is set in Kenya and follows the lives of Justin, a British diplomat and Tessa, his outspoken activist wife. Tessa spends a lot of her time with a doctor who works in the shanty towns of Kenya and after witnessing people having to be tested for TB whilst wanting to be tested for HIV, she soon starts to discover a secret that many are prepared to kill for to ensure that it remains so. However, despite many trying to control her and prevent her from publicising the fact that a drug corporation are exploiting the Kenyan population for the fraudulent testing of a TB drug that has known harmful side effects and disregards the well-being of its test subjects, she manages to start to gather evidence and write a report which she later sends back to the UK. This report threatens to expose the drug company and the corruption of the government, who knowingly allowed this to happen, and to cost them both millions of pounds and in an attempt to eliminate this threat Tessa ends up getting murdered. Whilst on the hunt for his wife's murderer, Justin too uncovers this conspiracy that, unless he can uncover and publicise its sinister roots, will destroy the lives of millions of innocent people..........

I had previously watched this film but it is an easy one to watch again and, like the first time, I really enjoyed it and it manages to keep your attention through out. It presents some very interesting issues including the fact that, even though drugs are sent to Kenya, they are not fairly and efficiently distributed to the people that are so desperately in need of them. It also touches on the corruption of the many government officials in some developing countries and how some TNC and MNC are, due to the fact that much of the world is dictated by money, prepared to exploit them. The film also portrays the different apsects of life in Kenya from life in the shanty towns to conditions in hospitals and allows for comparisons to be made between rural and urban lives and the difficulties faced by both. Overall, I would highly recommend this film and, even though it does not really link to any of the AS modules, it is definetly well worth watching!