A Nobel Prize-winning novel, an award-winning director and an A-list cast fashion a compelling mix in Fernando Meirelles' new film, "Blindness" (2008). Movie-goers familiar with Meirelles' work (notably, "The Constant Gardener" (2005) and "City of God" (2002)) and those searching for another intellectual thriller will not be disappointed with his new release. Do not let the mediocre reviews and the bad response at Cannes fool you — "Blindness" may not be a cutting-edge art film, but it is solid and thought-provoking entertainment.
Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, Alice Braga and Gael García Bernal star as Doctor's Wife, Doctor, Man with the Black Eye Patch, Woman With the Dark Glasses and Bartender, respectively. A strong supporting cast including Sandra Oh and Yuseki Iseya rounds out the film. No characters have names or personal histories, which creates an ambiguity that makes the film more adept at exploring a microcosm of humanity.
"Blindness" is an amalgam of terror and compassion. When an unnamed modern city is inflicted with an inexplicable epidemic of white blindness, fear and anarchy ensue. The first people infected are quarantined in a deserted asylum where they are effectively abandoned and receive no medical care. Moore and Ruffalo are among these first few. Ironically, Doctor is an eye doctor, and astonishingly, Doctor's Wife can see.
Somehow immune to the blindness, Doctor's Wife leads her husband and the rest of "Ward One" through daily life at the asylum. Order, sanitation and morale slowly crumble. While the members of the ward grow closer to each other and increasingly reliant on Doctor's Wife, who keeps her sight a secret, more and more people are packed into the asylum. Overcrowding and fear create a leadership vacuum which is filled by Bernal's warlord-like character, the Bartender.
Atrocities ensue. Disease, starvation, murder and a horrendous mass-rape scene create some gut-wrenching moments. However, the mayhem is balanced by the tenacity and compassion exhibited in certain characters. "Blindness" picks apart humanity, simplifying it into two core elements: good and evil. The extreme and order-less environment reduces previously ambiguous characters to their simplest forms. Some characters, though still exhibiting human flaws, display tremendous tenacity, while others like The Bartender are as evil as they come.
Moore gives an especially rousing performance as the clear-sighted Doctor's Wife. Her transformation from cushy stay-at-home woman to a forceful-but-forgiving leader is well-played and believable. The other characters, who are connected by random events in their pre-blindness lives, are also fundamentally changed during their time in the asylum. In fact, all of the major and supporting characters infected each other in some way. Of course, being blind, most are ignorant to this fascinating fact.
The events of "Blindness" cause the viewer to question the nature and depth of humanity. Meirelles' vision is terrifying and beautiful in equal measures, and in the end there is hope and evidence that humanity is greater than the sum of its parts.
The directing and cinematography call attention to the de-personification the film depicts. The camera's viewpoint is not reliant on any one person. Often, it is omniscient and unattached. The color of the film is wan and grey, fitting for such a bleak setting, and the city is unrecognizable, making it easily relatable. The musical score is beautiful, slightly tribal, entirely instrumental and a wonderful addition to the film.
All of the actors, including the extras, were trained to be blind, making their mannerisms eerily realistic. This is only one example of the tremendous care that went into "Blindness." Every detail is attended to by the meticulous Meirelles. Nothing is left untouched and everything is intentional, a technique that takes the viewer down a direct, pre-determined path into the bowels of society and back up again.
"Blindness" is a stunning film about both the degeneration and strength of humanity which exist in the space between esoteric art films and mass entertainment. The director and actors did a wonderful job adapting José Saramago's novel and "Blindness" is an excellent pick for viewers hungry for an entertaining blockbuster with a side of depth.
