Seen on: October 3, 2008

The players: Director: Fernando Meirelles, Writers: Don McKellar, Jose Saramago (book), Cast: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, Alice Braga

Facts of interest: Opened this year's Cannes Film Festival.

The plot: The film follows a small group of people struggling to survive after an epidemic of blindness descends upon their city.

Our thoughts: Fernando Meirelles’ “Blindness” is not as powerful or engaging as his previous works “The Constant Gardener” and “Cidade de Deus,” but the film is definitely not as bas as some critics made it out to be. The nature of the subject matter examined in this mystery thriller is one that concerns all of us, but it’s the way it is presented here that may not be appealing to large audiences.

Based on the novel by Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago, the film examines what happens to a group of quarantined people after a sudden epidemic of blindness devastates their city. Mark Ruffalo plays an eye doctor trying his best to prevent people from slipping into panic, while Julianne Moore stars as his loyal wife. Mysteriously, she’s the only one who hasn’t lost her sight, but she’s not telling anyone.

Even though “Blindness” lacks explanations and fails to go into greater depth in terms of story line and characters, the film passes as a solid examination of how quickly humans can abandon their decency and turn to unreasonable cruelty when exposed to an abrupt catastrophe. Whether it’s an act of terrorism or in this case a sudden epidemic stripping people of their ability to see, the changes of attitude in people exposed to something unknown are scary and unpredictable.

Don McKellar’s script is filled with symbolism, most of which is pretty obvious. For the most part, “Blindness” observes how a small group of people refuses to give up its goodness and decides to stand up to the challenges of this crisis, making the pretty evident case that sticking to morality and working together is the best way to survive an unprecedented disaster. Looking at it that way, the film doesn’t really show us anything we haven’t seen or don’t know yet.

Let me also point out that the movie is hard to watch at times. The plot includes a bunch of scenes that are tough to swallow, which is why I would not recommend it to audiences with a weak stomach. The outbreak of cruel violence in the film is directly linked to a quarantined victim (Gael Garcia Bernal) who calls himself the king of ward 3 and launches a brutal regime after he gets a hold of a gun.

 

Although Meirelles is a talented director who’s created some gorgeous movies, the execution of his vision in “Blindness” is something that bothered me quite a bit. On the one hand, the film features too many blurry scenes and abrupt cuts from light images to darkness, making it a visually tiring experience. On the other hand, it includes a handful of dragging scenes that interfere with the steady pacing of the plot.

I walked into this flick expecting great performances from the lead actors, but neither Ruffalo nor Moore really stood out. If I had to choose between the two of them I would go for Moore, primarily because she’s got a little more onscreen time and faces the bigger challenge to playing the only person able to see. The huge supporting cast however does a pretty convincing job of playing panicking citizens hit by acute blindness.

Freaky quote: “The only thing more terrifying than blindness is being the only one who can see." – Julianne Moore

The final word: “Blindness” is certainly not a perfect film, but it does raise interesting questions about the morality of mankind in a state of crisis, and it succeeds in stirring up emotions among its viewers. Plus, it will make you realize that the fear of waking up blind one day is indeed a terrifying one.

Article by Franck Tabouring