Ryan McNeil
Perhaps it’s fitting that as I sit down to write about a movie that features an epidemic of unexplainable blindness, that my own eyes are starting to feel really sore (that’s what happens when you’ve been up for 34 of the last 37 hours).
In case you’re new to reading this space, and judging by the spike in traffic many of you are, BLINDNESS was the TIFF ’08 selection I was looking forward to seeing the most. It’s based on one of my all-time favorite books, and every morsel of news I’ve tracked down about it – director, casting, trailers, posters – has done nothing but get me more excited. So much so, that I got up early today fully intending to drop a whopping $42 on it. Luckily I didn’t have to thanks to a courteous volunteer.
As for the movie, I am happy to report that it lives up to a lot of advance billing. The plot involves the aforementioned outbreak of blindness, and an ill advised decision to quarantine them in an abandoned mental institution. The film takes a bleak look at how civilization can become very uncivilized in a hurry. The story collects a cross section of seemingly normal people…but when the pressure of the situation starts to rise, you’ll be shocked at how little it takes to turn bartenders, doctors, and jewellers into killers, rapists, and thieves.
While all of this sounds dreary and depressing, it has been presented in such a way that makes it so delicate and beautiful that you won’t want to look away. Directed by Fernando Meirelles (CITY OF GOD, THE CONSTANT GARDENER), the movie is unique in that it’s a colour film that comes startling close to a black and white movie. BLINDNESS will easily rank as one of my festival favorites, and one of the best I’ve seen this year.
BLINDNESS will be released by Miramax in late September. It’s unforgettable – go see it.