CNS Movie Review: Blindness

Blindness

By John Mulderig
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- In 1998, Jose Saramago became the first author writing in Portuguese to receive the Nobel Prize in literature.

Seven years earlier, the communist author had roiled Catholic sensibilities by publishing "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ," an irreverent reimagining of the Gospel story along the lines of Nikos Kazantzakis' "The Last Temptation of Christ."

Now Saramago's 1995 novel, "Blindness," has been adapted for the screen (Miramax) by director Fernando Meirelles ("City of God" and "The Constant Gardener"). The result is a chilling parable about the breakdown of civilization that touches only briefly on the role of faith, but takes for its central theme the human capacity for holding fast to decency or giving way to evil under the pressure of extraordinary circumstances.

Fans of another Nobel Prize winner, the late William Golding, will recognize similarities with his classic, twice-filmed 1954 tale, "Lord of the Flies," though here the unnamed characters are mostly adults.

After treating a patient (Yusuke Iseya) who has gone instantly and inexplicably blind, an ophthalmologist (Mark Ruffalo) also loses his sight. As the illness quickly spreads to epidemic proportions, he's hustled away by government officials and quarantined in a dilapidated mental hospital, voluntarily accompanied by his still-sighted wife (Julianne Moore).

Conditions, both physical and moral, rapidly deteriorate as the numbers of the confined (including Danny Glover, Alice Braga, Gael Garcia Bernal and Don McKellar, who also wrote the screenplay) grow. Though the doctor strives for order, cooperation gives way to rivalry among the facility's wards and Bernal's character, a bartender in the outside world, arrogantly proclaims himself the "King of Ward Three."

Hoarding the scanty food supply, the so-called king and his accomplices blackmail the other inmates, culminating in a harrowing scene of forced prostitution for the women. (The portrayal of their abuse includes shadowy nudity.)

A scene set in a crowded church, where people seem to be taking refuge as the disease rages, shows that all the statues have been blindfolded. While some may see this as symbolizing divine indifference, it can also, not unreasonably, be understood to represent the solidarity of the saints with the suffering around them.

At one point, some of the characters, till then deprived of running water, revel in a sudden downpour, some of them disrobing completely to cleanse themselves (though there is brief frontal nudity here, it's shot from the side and at a distance). There's an unmistakable symbolism of general renewal, perhaps even baptism.

Whatever Saramago's personal views, this film version of one of his most acclaimed works plumbs the depths of human sinfulness, but never gives way to nihilism.

The film contains strong sexual content, adultery, brief scenes of full nudity, frequent rough and some crude language, and occasional uses of profanity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

- - -

Mulderig is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. More reviews are available online at www.usccb.org/movies.

END

Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250

FIND A MOVIE

   Looking for a
   movie review?
   Click "Movie List"
   button above

   OR

   Enter a keyword
   from the movie
   title in the box
   below and click
   the "Search"
   button.

Classifications
and
ratings?