Ralph Fiennes character let himself die in the end. Though I can see that he did all humanly possible to investigate and redeem his wife's death, why didn't he try to continue her fight for what was right instead of letting himself die
share[deleted]
Like he said to Sandy (I think) "Tessa was my home." He had no reason to keep on living according to himself. I thought her brother seemed like a cool guy. If it was me I'd have gone to hang out with him and the computer wiz kid instead.
It makes sense in one context. He got the ball rolling by helping her brother uncover the scandal. Thus he sort of finished his wife's life work, but he himself wasn't very interested in the cause she fought for, not so much that it alone could keep him going. Remember that he was the one telling her to stop before she got killed and how he was "hiding in his garden" while she was fighting.
Diplomacy is saying nice doggie until you find a stone!
I see it as the culmination of the love story strand of the film. In the scene where he is sitting by the lake just before being shot and he "imagines" Tessa is with him (I use quotation marks deliberatly as it depends on your spiritual outlook as to whether she was imagined or actually there in one form or another - but this is metaphysical debate for another forum!), he is really already dead. It's a sort of "death and transfigueration" much like the end of Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde".
shareWell said, TristanTzara! Clearly, Justin's death completes le Carre's story arc in a poetic, spiritual manner. Even in so-called real life, many spouses do not long outlive their deceased partners. Several of our elderly neighbors died within weeks or months of each other. The second Duke of Richmond (Charles Lennox) and his Duchess died within one year of each other. The dowager Duchess predicted she would not outlive her husband by one year shortly after he died. At the same time, I doubt Justin could have escaped the clutches of the corporate assassins.
Put puppy mills out of business: never buy dogs from pet shops!
I totally agree with MrSeriously. He had no reason to keep on living.
After his wife's death something still drove him - the love for his wife, the questions about her actions, the doubts about her although loving her etc. Everybody thought after they found her dead that she had an affair with the doctor. Nevertheless Justin loved her so much that he could not let go of her, even while thinking the worst about her.
In my opinion he was always the gardner - taking care of his plants and flowers - and Tessa was his flower. Beautiful, touching, shinning. He was only the caretaker...and he never considered himself as a flower which needs caring as well. Of course, that is only my impression - throughtout the movie he seemed so unsure about himself and why this beautiful butterfly Tessa was with him and why she loved him. He always radiated something insecure about that, afraid that she might fly away.
He probably never thought that she would be taken away by death, rather by leaving him. For Tessa was the active part in the relationship, while he was mostly passive, waiting patiently and "diplomatic" for things to unfold. By dying Tessa left him...and he would never get an answer to the question if she really loved him. Or did she only want to go to Africa with him, or whatever? I know, there can be logical answers to that, but the human heart often doesn't listen to reasons and has doubts.
And answers are what Justin needs, for he loves his wife and has to find a way to cope with the loss.
During his journey to dig up the WHY for her murder (I think the underlaying and much more important question for him is, did she truely love him), there are so many puzzle parts to show him that she truely loved him in the movie.
e.g. her brother telling Justin that Tessa has left him financially very well off (probably implying she always had enough money to choose whatever life she might want), the German acitivist showing Justin Tessa's webvideo of him sleeping and Tessa talking about him (realizing that she also thought about him, and took care of him - she was also his gardener, though he never realized it before). All this little experiences help him to see that she loved him and you can also see how that changes him. His motives are not so much to cover up the crimes in Africa, but he wants to understand his wife and why she put so much energy into it. To a topic he probably could never really relate to. For him these people were strangers, not really belonging to his flowergarden (like the after hospital scene when he shall drive the family home cause Tessa wants it, he says no; nearly at the end he wants to take the little girl with them in the plane and somebody else says no - at this point he can already relate to his wife's feeling).
His wife was a mystery to him during her life and he wants to unravel that mystery. He says Tessa was his home....I get the feeling during their life together he always walked into the living room or kitchen (metaphorically speaking), afraid to open the door to other rooms, scared to discover what might be there (maybe Tessa not loving him, Tessa having an affair, tessa only coming with him cause she wants to be in Africa etc. - hundreds of possibilities). By staying in the living room he hopes everything will stay the way it is and nothing threatening to their relationship will happen.
While diggin up all this scandal about the pharmacy industry, he discovers many of the rooms in his home Tessa. And I guess it is like in real life, you see that the things you are feared are mostly not there (no monsters under the bed). There are other things though, things you did not suspect. So Justin walks from room to room....discovering his wife. Something he never really dared to do during her life. He takes action and gets brave (on his terms). He never really says that, but you can imagine, that he regrets not having done that before. He could have asked the questions herself in real life, facing the fears. He does that on his search, but then it is already too late....
After he had all the answers (for him the important one: was he loved by her), for his wife (who knew that she loved him, her quest was: justice). By sending her brother the letter he helps her to find at least a little justice, but it is not what he is interested in.
Tessa was his home and his home is gone. At the end of his search he has all his answers. He opened all the doors which scared him (doors to Tessa, doors to his own diplmatic career, to his own self). It is not like giving up when he decides to go to the lake and die.
It is rather peaceful, for he knows he has found what he was looking for and nothing else to know of any real importance to him. There is nothing in the future which awaits him. He is at peace, he wants no revenge or anything. He only knows they want to kill him, probably will find him anywhere, and he doesn't mind. So why not do it at the most perfect place... the place where he lost his wife, but where he also found her.
Maybe the interpretation is a little bit extreme, and sorry for writing so much. But that is fairly how I see it. What turns this movie in an absolutely masterpiece to me is this fabulous story (where is still so much more) and the combination with the acting, the pictures. It is just magnificient!!! I can watch it over and over again...
Absolutely perfect reply. You summed up the film perfectly, well said! :)
shareThank you for your feedback, artist! =) My goal was solely discussing and appreciating artistic beauty...I am happy that there are still people out there who enjoy this movie and its story!
Have a wonderful Sunday! =)
I just saw it and was completely overwhelmed by the many levels of beauty to be found within this film.
FlyToTouchTheSky - your view is very touching and poetic. Thank you for sharing it.
Thank you, Serendipty! =) There are actually no words to describe this movie. It was rather a feeble attempt to get an answer to the question of the threat. My problem is that short and simple answers aren't my strongest trait. ;-)
When watching it, it is just so touching and so beautiful, but I could never really put in words all these emotions and express its deep beauty. After all it's a movie - so there is actually no need!
I am glad you like it, for I also get the impression it is often underrated.
FlytoTouchtheSky you so beautifully summarized the sheer emotion of this film, it really struck a chord with me. I saw this movie five years ago and was deeply moved by it. After reading your post, I am once again moved. Thank you for that.
Eagles may soar but weasels never get sucked into jet engines
It is because some people just simply lose the will to live. A few years ago, I worked for a company that sold security TV systems to small businesses such a momnpop grocery stores, cafes and so forth. One of our customers installed a security system after his wife was shot and killed in a robbery. He even allowed us to use his name as a reference, and we would give it to prospects. He was always very supportive. But his statement to us was that he died on the day his wife died. He said he was simply waiting his turn to die, and that he hoped it happened soon, because he could not live without is wife. Why did he install the security system? For the protection of his employees. As for himself, he no longer cared.
shareSince Justin had a gun, he should definitely have tried to fight for his life and at least shoot a few Africans. Whether he had anything worth living for was rather beside the point. It was his responsiblity to finish the job. To me, just letting himself killed by the assassins sent by his enemies was rather cowardly and also irresponsible.
While Tessa had lofty ideas and high-sounding objectives, and Justin certainly wanted to solve the mysteries of her death, what I did not like about them was that they did not seem to mind putting at risk the lives of all those around them. These people included Tessa’s cousin Hammond, the woman who communicated with Tessa via A/V hookup, Dr. Lorbeer, among many others. Since Justin had started the investigation, it was his responsibility to finish the job, rather than just send Pellegrin’s letter to Rome. Justin should have tried to live and testify before the relevant authorities rather than leaving it to Hammond - and in doing so put the latter’s life in grave danger. Who knows if Hammond might be the next to be murdered soon after the end of the movie?
Modern day Romeo and Juliette, very much like fiennes character in The English Patient.
shareDespite HenryCW's somewhat practical and logical reply, I tend to agree with the few previous posters. This story haunts me.
shareBy sacrificing himself, Tessa's work would continue and the scheme would be exposed. Moments before the plane dropped him off at the place where Tessa died, Justin gave an envelope to the pilot to mail, to Tessa's aunt in Rome. It contained the letter Bernard wrote to Sandy, that Justin got from the doc. Justin knew he would never leave the country alive, and he had no other way to expose what was going on. The assassins probably searched him for the letter.
shareI saw it as a (admittedly a cop-out on Justin's part) suicide and profession of his love for Tessa. To me, his homage to her should be to live and prove the illicit activities of KDH via Dypraxa, or at least continue working.
It is obviously a suicide though. He took out the magazine in his gun when he heard the car approaching. Did everyone get that Dr. Lorbeer alerted the same people who he told about Tessa/Dr. Bluhm's trip about Justin's destination?
Also, Justin's emptying of his magazine allowed coroners to prove it wasn't a suicide with different calibers in his body. Pellegrin tried to cover it up by classifying it as a suicide but it obviously was not. Maybe Justin decided he could not prove the illicit activities and instead chose to implicate Pellegrin and KDH in his murder/cover-up?
On the whole it was a very good film but it was way too liberal biased for my taste. City of God was an absolute masterpiece and one of the best films ever, but this film used nonfiction to tell a biased story.
Why did Dr. Lorbeer alert the assassins? So he'd tell/do what Tessa and Justin asks of him then call the bad guys to kill them??
shareSo what would be a good ending in your opinion?
share[deleted]
Why did Tessa and Justin go to Lake Turkana to begin with?
If someone said, "meet us at Lake Turkana and we will give you information" it seems as though Justin and Tessa would both know it was some type of set up (given Lake Turkana's terrain and remote location).
Why would Tessa's husband for a second believe that Tessa and Justin went to Lake Turkana for a romantic getaway? If Tessa's husband was unfamiliar with Lake Turkana, they had computers. If he searched "Lake Turkana" he would find out it was no place for a romantic getaway much less for a human to visit.