Blindness
Does Hollywood know something we don’t? What’s with all the apocalyptic thrillers of the past 5-10 years? “28 Days Later” (and its’ sequel), “The Day After Tomorrow,” “Cloverfield,” “I Am Legend,” “War of the Worlds,” “Apocalypto?” Well, the answer here is obvious- such movies make serious bank. Plus, what with the year of the end of days according to the Mayan calender fast approaching- 2012- the time to bring forth the end of the world on the big screen doesn’t have much time left. I’m sure the traumatic events of September 11 might have had something to do with it as well.
How “Blindness”- from the novel by Jose Saramago- fits into this group sets it apart. First, it’s not an action-driven thriller of an impending terror to humanity but a character-driven one, starting with a young man being stricken by a “white blindness” one day, with no explanation. From there, the epidemic spreads, the main characters are introduced, and the first infected are quarantined in, quite frankly, a shit hole of a building. Secondly, the story is more dramatic and an allegory for our times than a horror thriller, although all of the films above certainly have elements of allegory to them (provided they aren’t hitting us over the head with direct politics). Finally, there’s a catch seen very early on- one of the infected’s wife (Julianne Moore) can actually see, hasn’t been afflicted with this blindness. But she follows her husband (Mark Ruffalo) into quarantine, because, as she says, there’s nothing else for her to do. What she sees has a profound effect on her and us as a viewer, yet another example of fear-mongering and advantageous behavior as a revolt on the natural order of things by another “ward” (led by Gael Garcia Bernal) leads to further chaos and moral questions by Moore, Ruffalo, and other key players played by Danny Glover, Alice Braga (from “I Am Legend”), Yusuke Iseya (the first blind person), and others.
The epidemic is never explained, nor is the reason why Moore never loses her sight. And after a while, you don’t really come to care. True, the film feels too long at times- partially because of how grungy and unsettling the situation is- but the screenplay by Don McKellar (who plays a thief in the film) always holds your attention with the film’s fundamental moral questions, and by getting into the hearts of the main characters, whom you genuinely begin to root for. Part of this is talent of director Fernando Meirelles, who follows up his Oscar-nominated efforts “City of God” and “The Constant Gardener” with another potent look at modern geopolitics, this time in the guise of a thriller too real to be horror, but too horrific to be escapist. Immediately, Meirelles plunges you into the anxiety of the situation with a vision that’s accentuated in the grainy cinematography by Caesar Charlone and the non-stop, evocative music by Marco Antonio Guimaraes (credited as Uakti) that will jangle your nerves more than any “Saw” or horror remake will. Once again, Meirelles is taking us into the heart of darkness of the modern world; like Moore’s character, you’ll be wanting to break free from the degradation you’re led into. Unfortunately, that’s not just because of the film’s visceral realism…it’s too-long sustained nihilism plays a part too.
