Blindness (2008) on Netflix
White blindness spreads through a city, and the authorities quarantine the first afflicted in a derelict asylum. The Doctor goes blind; his wife, who can see, hides her sight to join him.
- Netflix2.9/5
- IMDb6.5/1077,528 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes43%
Trailer
Plot summary
A young man driving through an intersection suddenly goes blind, his vision turning white. A passerby offers to drive him home, then steals his car. The sickness proves communicable: the ophthalmologist who examines him goes blind the next day, cases multiply across the city, and the government quarantines the afflicted in a derelict asylum. The Doctor is taken there, and his wife, untouched by the sickness, claims she has lost her sight too so she can stay beside him. In the asylum the two agree to keep her secret, while the wards fill up, the soldiers on guard grow hostile, and anxiety over food erodes morale.
Cast
- Daniel Zettelas Onlooker #2
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Blindness (2008)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- In 1999 producer Niv Fichman and Canadian screenwriter Don McKellar visited Saramago in the Canary Islands, allowed in only on condition that they not discuss buying the rights; McKellar explained the changes he intended to make and two days later the pair left Saramago's home with the rights.
- At an early test screening in Toronto, roughly ten percent of the audience, nearly 50 people, walked out during a rape scene, prompting Meirelles to shorten that sequence for the final cut.
- The National Federation of the Blind announced plans to picket theaters in at least 21 states, in the largest protest in the organization's 68-year history.
- When the film ended, Saramago was in tears and told the director: "Fernando, I am as happy to have seen this movie as I was the day I finished the book."
- The cast and crew included 700 extras who had to be trained to simulate blindness, with the actor Christian Duurvoort, from Meirelles' City of God, leading a series of workshops to coach the cast members.
- Meirelles chose an international cast, and producer Niv Fichman explained his intent: inspired by Saramago's great masterwork to create a microcosm of the world, the director wanted it cast in a way to represent all of humanity.
- Focus Features acquired the right to handle international sales for Blindness, Pathe acquired UK and French rights to distribute the film, and Miramax Films won U.S. distribution rights with its $5 million bid.
