Blindness
Rated: R
Runtime: 2 hours
Directed by: Fernando Meirelles
Starring:
Julianne Moore - Doctor's Wife
Mark Ruffalo - Doctor
Alice Braga - Woman with the Dark Glasses
Danny Glover - Man with the Black Eye Patch
Gael García Bernal - Bartender / King of Ward Three
Yusuke Iseya - First Blind Man
Yoshino Kimura - First Blind Man's Wife
Maury Chaykin - Accountant
There is no question that Julianne Moore is one of the best actresses working today. Where meaty roles for actresses are increasingly found on the small screen rather than motion pictures, Moore always seems able to seek out the best roles for women and play them beautifully. With Blindness, she gives her best performance to date in a career of great performances.
Moore plays unnamed woman in a world stricken with an onset of sudden and inexplicable blindness. When her husband (Mark Ruffalo) is afflicted by the disease, she follows him into quarantine. However, she never loses her sight and thus becomes the rock and savior among a living hell of blind prisoners. The circumstances of the quarantine are absolutely brutal and when it strains credulity that any government would visit such circumstances among a helpless populace, one word suddenly gives it credence: Katrina. Watching these poor blind bastards walk naked through piles of shit and piss as they slowly begin to starve to death from a neglectful government, it's not out of the realm of possibility that they would be left to their fate.
Blindness is a smart twist on the typical pandemic flick in that everyone gets to live. Death or even a zombie outbreak would be a blessing. Instead, we watch a craven, desperate humanity that will kill even they even sense food. It's a very bleak film and director Fernando Meirelles overcompensates in the third act by trying to find hope but after watching the living hell of the quarantine, it's an unearned redemption.
The problem is there's a scene so dark and depressing that it's almost impossible for the film to come back. I have a pretty strong constitution but watching this scene, I almost walked out. It's not because it's a poorly made scene but it's content is painful. I literally felt pain watching this scene and that's intentional. But there's no coming back from it. No amount of found food, cleansing rain, and hugs among the film's good guys can heal the wound inflicted by that scene. Mierelles is an amazing director and while he doesn't convey blindness as effectively as I'd hoped, the film does have a look and feel all its own.
The film's real strength isn't in its great use of sound or imaginative visuals but in its cast. Ruffalo, Alica Braga, and Maury Chaykin are amazing but this is Moore's film. We rarely see female characters as strong and complex as this and it’s a blessing. She's someone who is almost constantly trying to disconnect from her humanity in order to cope with her circumstances but she has to hold on to it in order to care enough and persevere. It's an almost impossible balancing act and Moore pulls it off effortlessly. It's an Oscar-worthy performance and while Blindness may not be the most uplifting film of the year, it's worth seeing just for her.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
10.3.08
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