Blindness

Cinglant contraste entre, d’une part, la poignée de scènes psychologiquement tendues adroitement élaborées ainsi qu’un voyage postapocalyptique impressionnant dans la dernière partie et, d’autre part, le comportement stupide de personnages qui détruisent tout le potentiel d’une matière pourtant intéressante. Le film s’obstine tellement à éviter de créer une « héroïne hollywoodienne » qu’il finit par faire passer les spectateurs pour des cons. Je fais référence aux événements liés à la quarantaine qui, au vu des circonstances, n’auraient simplement pas dû se produire. Le concept de quarantaine lui-même, au début de l’épidémie, était peu réaliste et peu crédible. Que les autorités isolent un groupe de personnes qui ont perdu la vue pour des raisons inexpliquées d’une manière aussi abrupte, comme s’ils étaient de dangereux zombies ?! Qu’ils se fassent tirer dessus dès qu’ils sont à un mètre de la foule, marchant dans un couloir délimité par des murs de béton de cinq mètres de haut ?! Puis, cette BO bizarre, totalement inappropriée par moments (une musique indécemment comique dans des scènes qui sont censées nous glacer les sangs) n’arrange rien. Je juge plutôt les films à travers mes émotions qu’en les disséquant pour y trouver des incohérences, mais ici, on dépasse franchement les bornes. (25/11/2012)

In the hands of Fernando Meirelles, a smart script brimming with ideas becomes a captivating and very powerful psychological drama that will delight many viewers. And maybe there will be just as many people unable to think beyond the delicately tapped motifs, the resolution of which is left outside the film (otherwise it would be much longer) – and they will be guided to the third section, where they might feel well… Personally, I think Blindness is a far more interesting film that the celebrated City of God. (23/12/2008)

If there is anything I hate from the bottom of my soul, then it’s these hollow "Shyamalan" mysterious too-art almost allegories, which are, at their cores, built a) on stupid psychology, b) a tense directing style, which may make one drunk for a while through expressiveness, but they then only kill through unconceptual changes of perspectives and filters, c) on the poser emphasis of the overlap to general metaphysical categories. As long as it looked like a (flimsy) psychological thriller, I was willing to accept it, as soon as it went into a "spiritual" mode, it turned into a repulsive poser film without content. Society in chaos? No, movie speech in spasm. Instead of relief and a flurry of human heat, for the last twenty minutes I felt an urge to see those rotten blind zombies (because they're not characters) die. In fact, Blindness is as banal (if not more banal) as Hollywood disaster movies in which a family is united by disaster. But at least there you can enjoy it. (15/10/2012)

I have long dreamed of someone making an animated film for adults that would play intelligently with a genre, and when I saw Rango in that form, I was quite disappointed. When I saw Outbreak back in the day, I thought this was typical Hollywood stuff, and how nice it would be if someone tried to make it more realistic, like a cruel psychological drama. So I waited and got Blindness, and I was duly punished for my dreams because while I approve of the direction of Blindness, its final form is unfortunately awkward. The film is scattered in terms of the screenplay, essentially wanting to be something like Children of Men, but it lacks Cuaron's brilliant direction above all. While Meirelles does make an effort to depict a city struck by an apocalypse, the atmosphere is still somehow missing, and the film can be considered a unique example of how not to work with characters. I considered giving it three stars, but in this case, it would only be for the effort and subject matter. Overall impression: 45%. It's a shame that when someone actually makes a film like this, it turns out so uninteresting and uninspiring. (25/03/2011)

The merits of the chilling post-apocalyptic atmosphere and the setting are not outweighed by the fatal blunders in the script, the massive lapses in logic and the absurd behaviour of the main characters, or rather the main character, who is the only one without a visual impairment. Similarly implausible is the socio-political aspect, the depiction of the soldiers' approach to the quarantine, and the origin of the disease, which goes unexplained. If this is supposed to be a subliminal social/relationship satire about realising the importance of family togetherness in difficult situations, it has grossly failed. If it is supposed to be a classic mystery-thriller with a hint of apocalypse, it failed too. (16/09/2017)