Puck

review by Brian Charles Clark

Imagine everyone in the world goes suddenly, inexplicably blind – what would you do? More importantly, how would your government and social services agencies react?

That’s the premise of Blindness, the 1995 novel by Nobel Prize winner José Saramago. Originally published in Portuguese, the novel was widely translated and critically acclaimed. The film version’s reception has been entirely different.

Considered an unfilmable novel, the movie Blindness has been roundly panned by both viewers and critics alike. In fact, though, the film is brilliant in all respects. Don McKellar (Last Night) has done a great job of adapting the novel; his screenplay is true to the original while nicely condensing the novel long-winded philosophical digressions. Director Meirelles (The Constant Gardener) pushes hard on the action, never letting the film sag into didactic maundering, the way the novel does. The photography is stark and beautiful and the acting wonderful – no mean accomplishment, that, as all the parts are played by sighted actors.

Read more at Curled Up with a Good DVD…