Stoic Moore is less in bleak, belligerent 'Blindness'
Fernando Meirelles' bleak and belligerent "Blindness" begins as an M. Night Shyamalan mystery, then careens into an apocalyptical "Lord of the Flies" before crashing and burning in a heap of abrupt and unearned optimism.
Clearly, Meirelles intended "Blindness"- based on Jose Saramago's 1995 novel - to be a soul-searing, cautionary experience that explores the darkest recesses of humanity, without the movie losing its own humanity.
Yet, this quasi-horror film pulls its punches, no doubt for commercial reasons (people don't like to buy tickets to be freaked out) and because Meirelles dilutes the story and characters with gimmicky, overwrought visuals that distance us from the evil of unchecked human nature.
It doesn't help from an empathy perspective that the film, like the book, give its characters generic IDs instead of regular names.
First, an Asian car driver (Yusuke Iseya) inexplicably turns blind while at a stop light on the color-dead streets of an undesignated, generic city. Soon, the mysterious blindness spreads to a thief (screenwriter Don McKellar) who takes him home, the driver's wife (Yoshino Kimura), his eye doctor (Mark Ruffalo) and a prostitute (Alice Braga).
The only person immune to the mass blindness is the doctor's wife (Julianne Moore). We never know why she is spared.
A "1984"-like government rounds up the infected blind and crams them into a makeshift concentration camp inside an abandoned asylum. Then, perhaps taking a cue from FEMA during Katrina, the government more or less abandons the people.
Average, law-abiding citizens are forced to deal with issues of sanitation, food and safety on their own. A ward system designed to govern the camps (supported by the moral eye doctor) deteriorates as food becomes scarce. This, along with a revolver, enables a Third Ward thug (Gael Garcia Bernal) to declare himself king of the community. No one can challenge him.
No one except the doctor's wife, who has secretly faked her blindness so she can be with her husband. What she sees is unspeakable treatment from the thug and his cronies, who seize the food supplies and hand out rations in exchange for valuables and sex-on-demand. The oppressors, completely unrestrained, are free to be as brutal and demeaning as they like.
There are moments in "Blindness" that feel like a cheap, exploitation Nazi movie, despite Meirelles' attempt to present the most unpleasant elements of his story with tasteful restraint. His visual gimmick of showing us how the infected blind see the world in milky-white blurs becomes instantly tiresome.
Moore, never less than compelling in any role she tackles, serves as our narrative touchstone in this realistic, yet otherworldly setting. Moore is a fearless actress who pumps intelligence and complexity into her characters. Here, she presents a pensive study in stoical courage as her wife quietly concludes that an immoral act might be necessary to achieve a moral purpose.
Veteran actor Danny Glover is stuck in pointless role as the man with the eye patch. Originally, his character narrated "Blindness," but was judged to be so annoying and intrusive that the voice-over was wisely dropped.
"Blindness"
Rating: 2&189; stars
Starring: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Danny Glover, GaelGarcia Bernal
Directed by: Fernando Meirelles
Other: A Miramax Films release. Rated R (violence, sexual situations, language), 121 minutes.