October 7, 2009
''The only thing more terrifying than blindness is being the only one who can see.''
A city is ravaged by an epidemic of instant "white blindness". Those first afflicted are quarantined...
Yusuke Iseya: First Blind Man
On release, Blindness was strangely labeled...( read more) the new Children of Men, even comparisons were drawn to the dystopia I Am Legend. Even though it has actresses from both (Julianne Moore and Alice Braga), it results as being worse than both combined, it is safe to say, Blindness shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as Alfonso Cuaron's exceptional Children of Men. The quality speaks for itself if you compare these projects, and even I am Legend had it's CG flaws and unoriginal strains.
However, that doesn't mean not to miss out on Blindness as it is a decent enough drama with some solid performances. The film opens very intriguingly, an Asian man in an unnamed city goes blind at the wheel, this is the unknown start of the epidemic and traffic chaos has already erupted around him. Obviously then director Fernando Meirelles' view of the worlds morality in this film is shown as a man appears to help him, only to kick him out of his own car and drive away.
Perhaps this is where the main fault lies, the film tries so hard to hammer home a message that society has lost sight, using literal blindness as a metaphor for all that is bad in human thought and action. No wonder various foundations have protested against the concept and story itself.
It might have been wiser to let the viewers decide for themselves how this city would react and keep things relatively ambiguous. People going blind doesn't necessarily mean they will become selfish, indifferent and aggressive yet overall the film puts this point across repeatedly. An example is the doctor played by Mark Ruffalo, he completely changes in character, and even in the middle of the crisis, he cheats on his wife.
I think what saves Blindness overall though, and the reasons for me giving it 3 stars is that it is nicely structured and evenly paced while looking visually stunning, it is supposed to be set in an unidentified city and there are no clues at all to where it is filmed which is successful, and adds to the experience. The ruined and deserted city caused by the aftermath is also terrifically done.
The performances are definitely worth a mention, Julianne Moore is an excellent emotional core as one of the few humans immune to the blindness and carries the film. I also liked Alice Braga, Yuseke Iseya and Gael GarcÃÂa Bernal who has fun as one of the quarantined victims who tries to take over the wards for everything they have to achieve personal profit. However, I was disappointed with Mark Ruffalo who is normally a fine actor (Collateral,Zodiac) but he struggles with the material and delivering his character here. Danny Glover isn't great either and his clunky voice-overs don't help matters any further.
You will enjoy this film more if you can see past the over emphasized moral message and plot-holes. It would take too long to go through them all but for example: everyone is blind yet not once does anyone call each other by name, it would surely help the situation! I can't understand what Meirelles was trying to achieve with the non-use of name calling for the characters.
Overall, Blindness is an average standard drama, that is worth seeing for the visuals and mediocre performances. However, if you want something similar and in my view much better, watch the superior Children of Men. Let's face it, anything Fernando Meirelles ended up doing after his masterpiece City of God, would have had serious problems living up to the imposed pressure of equaling such an achievement. Blindness doesn't even come close to the shadow of greatness City of God basks in, which to me, shows complacency and a lack of utilizing the same potential. Possibly the source material is to blame in Meirelles favour, only time will tell when we see the work from his next conjecture.
So Fernando Meirelles, a film about Blindness...I don't see a point, thats for sure.
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