BLINDNESS
Directed by:
Fernando Meirelles
Starring Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo
PLOT: When a
group of varied folks get struck with a sudden case of BLINDNESS (I
hate when that happens, specially when at a strip club), they get
tossed into a dive by the government and its up to that one
finer than red wine gal (Moore) who still can see to keep things
together.
CRITIQUE:
I knew nothing about BLINDNESS or its
director Fernando Meirelles before I aimlessly walked into
the Cannes
screening room to grab the bull by the
horns and teach it a lesson. One thing I was aware of though was:
Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffallo are damn fine actors and if
they’ve chosen to be in this film, they’re must be something to
it. I was wrong…again… story of my life.
BLINDNESS
started on the right foot with a tantalizing initial premise that promised
something immersing to come. A group of people suddenly become blind due to a
mysterious “blindness” contagion and are then shoved into a scummy hole by
our government and are kept there at gun point in the name of protecting the masses. Up to that point the film
had me hooked, lined and you know the rest with its powerful acting, brilliant
audio/visual design (loved the blind POV stuff) and promises of something
astounding to come. It never came. When the government didn't even attempt to
figure out what was going on, I knew I was in "forfeit logic in the name
of creating impact" trouble. It just didn't make any sense.
Hence, what followed was a slew
of clichés and stereotypes within the subgenre, put out via a trite handling of the chain of
events. I cannot count how many times the film ignored common sense to forced
feed a plot turn my way to create conflict while
streamlining a "simpleton message" within its narrative. Thing was, when
manufactured as opposed to rolling out in an organic fashion, the bedlam here
had the opposite effect on me. I actually felt insulted by the sheer
fact that the people behind this film didn’t think I was smart enough to pin-point
where they cheated logic to elevate the stakes of their game. I'm a simpleton
yes, but give me some credit!
And the same can be said about
the useless philosophical for dummies narration (by the great Danny Glover so it did count for something I guess... Murtaugh!)
that accompanied the action. Spelling out what I was able to deduce on my own as
to what was going on the screen did not make for a more fulfilling watch. Making
me feel like a spoon-fed imbecile on the other hand – yeah, it succeeded in
that respect! Topple on top of that the overall lesson of the film being old and
the final frames unsatisfying and you get a
picture that could’ve been if its script had gone beyond the first draft.
At about an hour and a half in
of BLINDNESS, I had had enough, yet the film kept going on for what felt like an
eternity. It didn’t really have anything left to say but it kept preaching to
the choir none the less. Bugh. In closing BLINDNESS started off on the right foot,
let its imagery and brilliant use of sound gap the rest (the minimalist score
was very effective if I may add) and then dropped to the bottom of the river
like a pigeon wearing concrete boots.
-- 5/10
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