When City of God was released, it caused quite a stir among film fans. The film was both a critical and financial success and out of nowhere, director Fernando Meirelles became the next big thing. His follow up, an adaptation of John le Carré’s novel, The Constant Gardenerwas an entertaining film but both the story and style seemed conventional in. I had expected more from the director who had been so innovative with his debut feature. For his third film, Meirelles has again taken up the written word for translation ontot he big screen this time choosing to take on Nobel Prize winning author José Saramago’s work.

As a novel “Blindness” is a brutally honest examination of the human condition when pushed to the edge and Meirelles’ film manages to capture all of Saramago’s themes. A sudden illness begins afflicting the population of a city leaving the sufferers blind. As a precaution, the health organization gathers all of the afflicted and sends them to a containment camp which appears to be an old jail. The quarantined group is small to begin with and they quickly set up a form of governship that seems to work but as more infected arrive, the small society begins to fall apart. A group of men decides that it is going to take charge of the food and from here, the situation quickly begins to dissintegrate. The resulting chaos serves as a reminder of the violence which rests within humanity but it also shines a light on the opposing goodness of people. Mixed in among the big moral dilemas are smaller stories of individuals and relationships which further question motives and preconceptions. The film doens’t just focus on the social aspects of the fall of manking, it’s also interested in relationship dynamics and how they change.

Blindness owes a fair bit of its success to the fantastic performanes. Meirelles is much more concerned with the story than with the visuals (though that’s not to say that the film is lacking in the technical department). Poor performances could have seriously hindered the film but this cast doesn’t fail. Julianne Moore leads the way, yet again playing the woman on the brink of colapse. As the only one in the camp who can see, she is mother and protector and her performance is both tortured and strong. Moore has built her career on roles like this one but here, there’s a tenderness to her that I had yet to see. Mark Ruffalo, an actor who showed great promise with earlier roles, is on a war path. He was excellent in Zodiac and his performance here is wonderful, walking the fine line between fearless leader and helpless victim. Alice Braga proves that she’s more than just a pretty face and Gael García Bernal stands out in a showey but unforgettable performance as the leader of the corrupt group but it’s Danny Glover who surprises. It’s been years since I’ve seen him in anything memorable but his small, quiet performance here is indication that the actor isn’t done yet.

Visually, Meirelles does not disappoint. His vision of a city in collapse is eerily reminiscent of 28 Days Later, it’s follow up 28 Weeks Later and even children of Men (though not quite to that level of devastation). Meirelles uses the decaying surroundings as a metaphor for the corruption of society and the result is an ugly marvel; a city scape crowded by garbage, bodies and animals. The director also makes excellent use of the fact that the the victims suffer from an ailment which leaves thems seeing everything white rather than black and portions of the film are stark white, which adds yet another layer to the alredy metaphor dense film.

Like the novel it’s based on, Blindness is a cerebral film. Though on the surface it makes for an excellent, bleekly entertaining apocalyptic drama, peeling back the layers reveals the film’s real staying power. This is the type of film that keeps audiences deep in discussion well into the night and which lingers in the consciousness long after the lights have come up.

Also be sure to check out Michael’s review of the film!