Blindness - 2008

Movie #120

2.5 stars

After a plague of blindness overtakes the residents of a city, all sense of order breaks loose in the hospital where the victims are being quarantined. It's up to a woman (Julianne Moore) who's keeping her sight a secret to lead a group safely to the streets.

Cast: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Danny Glover, Gael García Bernal, Sandra Oh

Director: Fernando Meirelles

Filming Locations: Canada, Uruguay, Brazil

Tagline: Your vision of the world will change forever.


Why a 2.5? It could have been so much better. The book was totally changed to try to make it a successful movie. The book is not only in Porteguese but it takes place in the 30's...the movie is in English ("If you do it in English you can sell it to the whole world and have a bigger audience") and it takes place in the 60's...or later (so audiences could relate to the characters). So whats my problem? Like I said before, the movie could have been better. If there goal was to appeal to a larger audience then the movie should have been more exciting...people who watch subtitled movies are more open...but that's just my observation. And the thing about the time period....isn't the whole point of the movie to make people feel uncomfortable...to make them think about life. If the movie was based in the 30's then viewers may feel (a) appreciative that they are not blind and (b) grateful of technology. But that's just my thoughts.

Ok...so my major dislike how they went about making the book into a movie. One thing I am not too sure about is the fact that the characters did not have names and you did not know their past. How are we supposed to put ourselves in the characters shoes in order to have an emotional connection to the character when we don't know anything about them? Maybe it is reverse psychology...by not giving the characters any names, the viewers may see themselves in any of the characters.

****SPOILER ALERT*******
***************************
***************************
In the final minutes of the movie, the first man who went blind gets his sight back. All of the other characters start to have hope that they will get their sight back too. Julianne Moore goes out onto the balcony and looks up...all she sees is white....is she going blind??!? No....the camera then cuts back to the skyline and she can see all of the buildings. Yes, it may have been effective by the fact that the audience would have had a sinking feeling thinking, "oh no...don't make her blind." (this is a stupid viewer) But why revert back to doing what the audience is comfortable with. First it was making the movie in English then it was not having a depressing ending. In my opinion...the movie would have been more effective...and thought provoking....if Julianne Moore, the only person who had not been affected by the blindess, would have gone blind.

***************************
***************************













Julianne Moore lookin tore up















Gael looking crazy and Danny Glover (best actor in the movie)


Overall Recommendation: Watch it while surfing the internet...you won't miss out on anything.