Blindness (2008)

Director:

Fernando Meirelles

Writers:

José Saramago (novel)
Don McKellar (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 October 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Lust is blind.

Plot:

A city is ravaged by an epidemic of instant "white blindness". Those first afflicted are quarantined...

Plot Keywords:

Blindness | Quarantine | Illness | Power | Sex

Awards:

12 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Yusuke Iseya	...	First Blind Man
Jason Bermingham	...	Driver #1
Eduardo Semerjian	...	Concerned Pedestrian #1
Don McKellar	...	Thief
Ciça Meirelles	...	Driver #2
Antônio Fragoso	...	Concerned Pedestrian #2
Lilian Blanc	...	Concerned Pedestrian #3
Douglas Silva	...	Onlooker #1
Daniel Zettel	...	Onlooker #2
Yoshino Kimura	...	First Blind Man's Wife
Joe Pingue	...	Taxi Driver
Susan Coyne	...	Receptionist
Fabiana Guglielmetti	...	Mother of the Boy (as Fabiana Gugli)
Mitchell Nye	...	Boy
Danny Glover	...	Man with Black Eye Patch

Also Known As:

Blindness (Japan: English title)
Ensaio Sobre a Cegueira (Brazil)
L'aveuglement (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence including sexual assaults, language and sexuality/nudity.

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

Canada | Brazil | Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Netherlands:16 | Brazil:16 | UK:18 | Canada:14A | Japan:PG-12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Ireland:15A | Singapore:M18 | Portugal:M/16 | Germany:12 | Chile:14 | Argentina:16 | South Korea:18 | Finland:K-15 | Peru:14 | Taiwan:R-12 | Hong Kong:IIB | France:U (with warning) | Mexico:B15 | Australia:MA | New Zealand:R18

Filming Locations:

Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Rhombus Media

Trivia:

Producer Niv Fichman became interested in the project back in 1999 when he and Don McKellar, who would write the script, flew to the Canary Islands to talk to the Nobel Prize-winning Portuguese author José Saramago about giving them the film rights to his book. One of Saramago's conditions was that the film must not be set in any recognizable countries.

Goofs:

Continuity: The pistol used in the movie appears to be a snub-nosed revolver, typically holding between 5 to 10 bullets. The number of rounds fired off without any indication of reloading is closer to 15 throughout the "Ward 3" standoff.

Quotes:

[first lines]
First Blind Man: I'm blind.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: (#8.30)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Sambolero

Fair adaptation of a complex novel

"If it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed", said the great Stanley Kubrick, who adapted most of his films from novels and turned them into his own films, rather than being too literal (or faithful, if you prefer) to the source material (and often turning authors and fans of the adapted novels crazy – Stephen King, anyone?). I agree with his statement. No literary work is "unfilmable" – which doesn't necessarily mean any literary work, good or bad, can be turned into a good movie. However, in spite of a few flaws, "Blindness" is a very efficient adaptation of a brilliant (and very complex) novel by Portuguese author José Saramago, "Ensaio Sobre a Cegueira" (literally, "Essay About Blindness"), and doesn't deserve all the bad reviews it's been getting.

The negative reaction towards the film doesn't surprise me at all, though. Fernando Meirelles, after getting world acclaim with his neoclassic "City of God", made a very successful transition to an international project with the beautiful "The Constant Gardener". His sophomore English project is very daring and dark, uneasy to watch at times, but also compelling and thought-provoking.

César Charlone's exquisite cinematography sets the tone for the story of an unexplained "white blindness" epidemic. It's also a huge asset to have such a phenomenal actress like Julianne Moore to play the film's heroine: as always, she has a strong presence and is extremely expressive, making everyone believe and feel for her character's cross of being the only one who can see in a chaotic quarantine, where people have to submit to violence and rape in order to survive.

My only major complaint is about the uneven first 20 minutes or so: some sequences seem a little disjointed and the acting somewhat amateurish, but once the first act is done the film finds its own pace and strength. Roger Ebert called it "one of the most unpleasant, not to say unendurable, films" he's ever seen. For a start, it would be stupid to assume a film with such a dark premise would be uplifting (and if Ebert had the slightest knowledge about the material it's based on, he'd realize what he was up for), so his comment is unintelligent and atrocious like the majority of everything he's ever written (but he's a widely popular Pulitzer-winning film critic, so unfortunately lots of people trust his opinion before going to see a movie). Even though I still prefer the outstanding novel to the film, I admire director Fernando Meirelles and writer Don McKellar's adaptation for what it is: smart, daring and respectful to its source material, without being overtly faithful or afraid of taking risks. And Saramago himself approved the film, so who are we to criticize? The man knows what he's talking about; if you want to see it for yourself, read his novel now and then compare it to this film, appreciating it not as a literary work, but as the good piece of cinema it is. 8/10.