Reviewed by: Fergus McShane

Directed by: Fernando Meirelles

Price: £15.99

[ratings]

It’s difficult to portray the physical conditions of human suffering on screen and have the audience thoughtfully empathise, especially if the condition is to do with the removal of vision (impossible to present in cinema). But this is exactly the apocalyptic setting of Blindness.

From acclaimed director Fernando Meirelles, of City of God and The Constant Gardner fame, Blindness is a visceral, sense-deprivating film based on the novel from Spanish Nobel Prizewinning author Jose Saramago.

When an outbreak of sudden blindness occurs in a nameless metropolis and quickly develops pandemic proportions, similarly nameless victims are quarantined in a derelict hospital: a brutal, unforgiving home. Only Julianne Moore’s character keeps her sight as she is forced to watch the world descend into chaos, all the while taking care of her husband (Mark Ruffalo) and a ramshackle group of infected followers.

In a style reminiscent of Children of Men, Meirelles portrays a dystopian world that questions just how quickly our society would crumble in the face of adversity. Realistically, too quickly is the answer we get… While Blindness may not have been too well received at cinemas, this chilling, bold and thought provoking alternate reality is definitely worth keeping your eyes open for on DVD.

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