We just got back from our “day before the release” screening of “Blindness.” Having received mixed reviews, Fernando Meirelles’s latest (“City of God”) isn’t as terrible as some say, but it’s not very good either. The positive aspects of the film aren’t enough to outweigh the unfavorable second half of the film. The main thing going against the picture are its similarities to superior post-apocalyptic films such as “28 Days Later” and “Children of Men.” When comparing the three films (which one can’t help but do here), “Blindness” can’t help but fall short. The threat of an epidemic of blindness is not nearly as scary or harrowing on screen as the infection in ’28 Days’ (Not the Sandra Bullock film) and the infertility in ‘Children.’
Based on a novel by Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago, the film follows a doctor’s wife (Julianne Moore) who becomes the only person with the ability to see in a town where everyone is struck with a mysterious case of sudden blindness. She feigns illness in order to take care of her husband (Mark Ruffalo) as her surrounding community breaks down into chaos and disorder.
Strong performances are given by Moore, Ruffalo, and especially Gael García Bernal. The real surprise though, is the “thief” played by Don McKellar. Not only does he deliver a deliciously dark and funny portrayal, the Canadian multi-hyphenate also wrote the screenplay for the film. He has been acting for years now, but we hope he gets more notice from this role, because he is super deserving of some good material. (Maybe he should write it?)
Meirelles movie is also about 20 minutes too long. At one point, we thought it was going to end with a hokey “Who gives a fuck? We’re blind!” ending, but surprisingly, the film kept going, moving to a different ending, not necessarily better, but not worse either.
The score, composed by Marco Antônio Guimarães, (or is it
Uakti?) is sparse yet appropriate. Thinking back, the music only pops up at a few points in the film.
Like ‘Children,’ “Blindness” never explains why the epidemic has come about. All you know is that the white blindness is contagious. Unlike these dystopian films though, “Blindness” doesn’t really make you worry about the safety of the characters, because the “good guys” have one up on the “bad guys.” Julianne Moore can see, so what can a blind guy with a gun really do? Not even during the disturbing (in a bad way) scenes of sexual assault (as if there’s a good way) did we fear for the characters.
“Blindness” isn’t tracking well with critics, and will not likely get good word of mouth from the average movie goer. Scenes of rape, in the middle of the film, including the words “Can I suck on your nipples?” spoken by the extremely creepy Maury Chaykin may destroy any word of mouth the film deserves. That is where the film started to go down hill which is a significant reason why we don’t like it. [C-]
PS, the first five minutes of “Blindess” are up on Yahoo. You can watch it below.
