Movie: "The Constant Gardener"

Here are some of my thoughts about the movie THE CONSTANT GARDENER. I watched it some time ago and found it really interessting

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE WESTERN WORLD AND AFRICA
In the movie “The Constant Gardener”, relations between development- and industrial countries are “beautifully” and accurately illustrated. For many years, the differences between the poor countries in Africa and the consumer societies in the western world have been huge and many. Corruption and unfair abuse of power have been a problem for decades. In the movie, a typical corrupted industry is depicted. An alliance established by tainted, capitalistic leaders in Europe and corrupted, dishonored Africans shows us the dishonest co-operation that has existed for many years, and still does.
The problem is manifested in the movie through a pharmaceutical company pretending to have divine power when it comes to managing the lives and deaths of the innocent population. The movie is a reaction to this industry, which still exists. While doing research for this essay, I read that the movie is based on actual happenings from Kenya. Pharmaceutical companies are actually testing drugs on the citizens, resulting in many deaths. The bodies were, and they still are, being buried and forgotten for all time.
The relationship between the industrialized north and the poor countries in Africa may be good officially. Embassies and commissariats are common, even in Africa, but in every part of our world there is deceitful underworld accessible, and too many people takes part in it. In today’s Africa despotism and unjustified dictatorship still takes place in numerous states, the leaders here are often, sadly, easily persuaded to sacrifice their own people’s well-being for their own winning.
The problem is, as I said, very well portrayed in the movie, which can be categorized as a conspiracy thriller. The story-telling is non-linear, and the fact that it is jumping back and forth, back and forth, truly underlines the confusing and cruel reality that are to be found in the conspiracies. It is pretty interesting to see how the passive main character, Justin, slowly starts to dig and seek after the truth, and how his wife, Tessa, is shown as a confident and offensive character – even though she dies pretty fast. This gives Justin’s passivity time to grow throughout the movie as he solves the mystery and catches up with the criminals behind the conspiracy.
The relationships are once again manifested through the scenes from the slum-area in Kenya. Using hand-held cameras the director creates a feeling that this is some sort of a documentary showing the sad contrasts, which literally are like black and white. Midways in the movie, a camera that films a golf course which apparently is reserved only for white people, suddenly starts to pan to the left filming a place consisting of small houses falling to pieces –the slum. This was an incredible shot manifesting the huge contrasts between the industrialized north and the developing Africa – between blacks and whites.

SCENE ANALYSIS
“The Constant Gardener”. The first scene depicts Tessa’s leaving for Loki, a scene in which we understand that there’s a special relationship between her and the diplomat Justin Quayle. She tells him to leave the airfield because of the heat. My personal interpretation of this scene may seem peculiar, but nevertheless is it important for me to give a picture of it. After the valediction, Tessa walks self-confident towards the plane as the picture fades into white. Now that I know the outcome of her send-off (she dies), I interpret the fading as some sort of a walk into the heaven. The fading brings us to the next scene of significance; the beach-scene. There’s absolutely no exchange of words in this scene, only fascinating and curious use of camera adjustments. The angles used in this scene are interesting, in most parts of this sequence the camera leans towards left or right, providing us with close-ups of both the beach and the ruined vehicle. A symbol used in this lake-scene is the animal life, as something bad happens – (the murder of Tessa and her companion) – vast flocks of birds collectively escapes the immense area in a hurry. These amazing shots (obviously taken with the help of a helicopter or a plane) show us great pictures from the lake and the nearby nature. I believe that the last and most important scene is the one in which sandy conveys the sad and heartrending report to Justin. The scene is captivating because of the acting performances. Ralph Fiennes’ recital is mesmerizing. It is quite interesting to see how the camera is used in this scene; the camera is focused at Justin during almost the entire scene, showing us how his reaction to the devastating message slowly unfurls. The paradox is how he is keeping his plants alive while he is receiving the message – he is gardening – at the same time as his wife has withered. Seems to me like he is continuously (constantly) searching for the truth – using his familiarity as a never-ending gardener to dig up information - from this time on – using gardening as therapy because he can’t figure his problems out within (internally).

The Falklands War

The Falklands War

In the early eighties the Argentines started to play with the idea of taking The Falkland islands, a group of islands situated outside the coast of their own country, back. The Falkland Islands however, have been in British “custody” since the middle of the nineteenth century.

In pursuit of the claim of the Islands, Argentina invaded the Falklands in 1982, precipitating the two months long skirmish between Argentina and the United Kingdom – which led to the victory of the United Kingdom and the withdrawal of the Argentine forces. It was important for England to protect the island because of the fact that most inhabitants there are of British origin – and of course; the assault was looked upon as an attack on British territory.

Argentina was warned and advised against a war by UN, but still they acted threatening towards Britain. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher decided to go to war.

The war lasted from April 2^nd – June 14^th.

The war was mainly fought in the air and at sea. It is without doubt the largest and most brutal and atrocious naval battle fought since the Second World War.

In total 907 were killed during the 74 days of the conflict.

“This is England” - Run with the crowd, stand alone, you decide.

This is England is a fantastic movie and story about a troubled boy growing up in England, set in 1983. He comes across a few skinheads on his way home from school, after a fight. They became his new best friends, even like family. The movie is a beautiful depiction of how those who lost their beloved in the war deals with it – but also a criticism of the Thatcher-administration who chose to go to war and defend the islands, resulting in the deaths of many British soldiers.

My hometown

My Hometown

I’ve finally managed to write a post about where I live. I live in Bærum, a municipality in Norway and a suburb of Oslo. I’ve lived here all my life - and I really like it here – can’t imagine living somewhere else.
Some quick facts:
• The total area of Bærum is 191,3 square kilometres, including 2,9 square kilometres of lakes and rivers, 16,7 square kilometres off arming land, and 107,5 square kilometres of forest.
• The population is approximately 107 000 (2008).
• Bærum is situated in the county of Akershus, 15 kilometers and 15 minutes south-west of Oslo.

Bærum do have it all: the best cinema in Europe, the biggest mall in the Scandinavia, the most educated population in Europe, the best schools in the entire country and of course a beautiful countryside.
Located to the west of Oslo (the capital in Norway), Bærum is a part of “Stor-Oslo”, in English: “Big-Oslo”. Bærum is believed to be the wealthiest municipality in Norway, the average income here is USD 76 000 $, and the houses here are often referred to as upper class. This is what I don’t like about Bærum, it is way too expensive (Medium Big Mac Menu: 7-8USD) and our exaggerated consumption makes me kind of sick. I believe that we instead of using so many resources on new cars and expensive fashion clothes should use our highly educated citizens to follow Mr. Gore’s example and be good role models.

But as I said: I love it here.

Just like a pill

A 13-year-old chinese girl attempted suicide to save her father who is suffering from cancer. When her father was diagnosed with cancer the girl became so depressed that she ate 200 sleeping pills--so that her father could have her organs when she was dead.

She failed and ended up in the hospital's intensive care unit, drifting in and out of consciuosness.

I believe this story is so unique and so touching in many ways. It is of course frightening and tragic that a teenage girl would end her life to save her father -- but at the same time it is so moving...

Kind of a special incident, I sure hope I don't get to see those kind of stories too often..

What students want

In this lecture professor Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Kansas State University, discusses both successful and unsuccessful attempts to integrate emerging technologies into the classroom to create a rich virtual learning environment.

WEB 2.0
The laptop is without any doubt a revolutionary device allowing us to access the great possibilities a computer can offer, almost anywhere! The computer provides a great opportunity for learning, but it is also a huge source of distraction for undisciplined students. Facebook, MSN, Twitter, Blogs etc..., are all WEB 2.0 -services which contributes to the sad fact that many students are having a hard time trying to concentrate and learn.



In a survey conducted by Michael Wesch, it turned out that more than fifty percent of students disliked school. Still, when he asked "Do you like to learn?" ALL of them raised their hand...

Today's students like to learn, but obviously not in school with today's way of teaching.

The first challenge is: how can we implement computers and new technology in to the classes in a good way? How can we minimize the students' use of MSN, Facebook etc?

I believe the professor illustrated the problem very well: - We need to make the students knowledge-able, not knowledgeable. They need to learn how to learn.

The real point
The point is: when the humans first learned how to write, it took decades - maybe numerous centuries - before people got used to it. Nowadays, students have to adapt in to new technology, just like they had to with writing many years ago. The ultimate challenge is NOT to teach the students how to use a computer, but how to use it in the right way in a learning situation.