Blindness (2008)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Fernando Meirelles

Writers:

José Saramago (novel)
Don McKellar (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 October 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Lust is blind.

Plot:

A city is ravaged by an epidemic of instant "white blindness". Those first afflicted are quarantined...

Plot Keywords:

Shot In The Face | Epidemic | Doctor | Blindness | Philosophical

Awards:

1 nomination

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Julianne Moore	...	Doctor's Wife
Mark Ruffalo	...	Doctor
Alice Braga	...	Woman with the Dark Glasses
Yusuke Iseya	...	First Blind Man
Yoshino Kimura	...	First Blind Man's Wife
Don McKellar	...	Thief
Jason Bermingham	...	Driver #1
Maury Chaykin	...	Accountant
Mitchell Nye	...	Boy
Eduardo Semerjian	...	Concerned Pedestrian #1
Danny Glover	...	Man with the Black Eye Patch
Gael García Bernal	...	Bartender / King of Ward Three
Joe Pingue	...	Taxi Driver
Susan Coyne	...	Receptionist
Fabiana Guglielmetti	...	Mother of the Boy (as Fabiana Gugli)
Antônio Fragoso	...	Concerned Pedestrian #2
Lilian Blanc	...	Concerned Pedestrian #3
Douglas Silva	...	Onlooker #1
Joe Cobden	...	Policeman
Daniel Zettel	...	Onlooker #2
Mpho Koaho	...	Pharmacist's Assistant
Tom Melissis	...	Engineer
Tracy Wright	...	Thief's Wife
Amanda Hiebert	...	Maid
Jorge Molina	...	Hotel Security Guard
Patrick Garrow	...	Hotel Assistant Manager
Gerry Mendicino	...	Silver Haired Doctor
Matt Gordon	...	Minister's Assistant
Sandra Oh	...	Minister of Health
Anthero Montenegro	...	Cop #1
Fernando Patau	...	Cop #2
Otávio Martins	...	Police Captain
João Velho	...	Ambulance Attendant
Marvin Karon	...	Announcer
Joseph Motiki	...	Guard
Johnny Goltz	...	Soldier
Robert Bidaman	...	Minister's Advisor
Niv Fichman	...	Israeli Scientist
Oscar Hsu	...	Prominenet Ophthalmologist
Martha Burns	...	Woman with Insomnia
Scott Anderson	...	Meek Inmate
Michael Mahonen	...	Sergeant
Joris Jarsky	...	Hooligan
Billy Otis	...	Hoodlum
Linlyn Lue	...	Emissary from Ward Two
Toni Ellwand	...	Woman of Ward One #1
Mariah Inger	...	Woman of Ward One #2
Nadia Litz	...	Woman of Ward One #3
Isai Rivera Blas	...	Man of Ward Three #1
Rick Demas	...	Man of Ward Three #2
Kelly Fiddick	...	Man of Ward Three #3
Matt Fitzgerald	...	Man of Ward Theee #4
Mike G. Yohannes	...	Man of Ward Three #5
Norman Owen	...	Man of Ward Threee #6 (as Norm Owen)
Jackie Brown	...	Woman of Ward Two #1
Victoria Fodor	...	Woman of Ward Two #2
Agi Gallus	...	Woman of Ward Two #3
Bathsheba Garnett	...	Woman of Ward Two #4
Alice Poon	...	Woman of Ward Two #5
Plínio Soares	...	Hulking Scavenger
Rodrigo Arijon	...	Scavenger #1
Mel Ciocolato	...	Scavenger #2
Heraldo Firmino	...	Scavenger #3
Carol Hubner	...	Scavenger #4
Fernando Macário	...	Scavenger #5
Eduardo Parisi	...	Scavenger #6
Rodrigo Pessin	...	Scavenger #7
Domingos Antonio	...	Preacher
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ciça Meirelles	...	Driver #2
Katherine East	...	Intern (uncredited)
Katia Kieling	...	Starving girl (uncredited)

Directed by
Fernando Meirelles

Writing credits
José Saramago		(novel "Ensaio Sobre a Cegueira")
Don McKellar		(screenplay)

Produced by
Nicolas Aznarez	....	service producer
Andrea Barata Ribeiro	....	producer
Bel Berlinck	....	co-producer
Claudia Büschel	....	associate producer
Simon Channing Williams	....	executive producer
Gail Egan	....	executive producer
Niv Fichman	....	producer
Sari Friedland	....	co-producer
Akira Ishii	....	executive producer
Victor Loewy	....	executive producer
Aeschylus Poulos	....	associate producer
Chris Romano	....	service producer
Sonoko Sakai	....	producer
Austin Wong	....	associate producer
Tom Yoda	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Marco Antônio Guimarães		(as Uakti)

Cinematography by
César Charlone

Film Editing by
Daniel Rezende

Casting by
Deirdre Bowen
Susie Figgis

Production Design by
Matthew Davies
Tulé Peak

Art Direction by
Joshu de Cartier

Set Decoration by
Erica Milo

Costume Design by
Renée April

Makeup Department
Debra Johnson	....	department head hair stylist
Janie MacKay	....	hair stylist
Amanda Milne	....	first hair assistant
Susan Reilly LeHane	....	makeup artist: Julianne Moore
Micheline Trépanier	....	makeup department head
Anna Van Steen	....	makeup designer
Catherine Viot	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Marcelo Cotrim	....	location production manager
Andrezza de Faria	....	unit production manager: Uruguay
Ivan Teixeira	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Adam Bocknek	....	third assistant director
Penny Charter	....	second assistant director
Joana Cooper	....	second assistant director
Tyler Delben	....	third assistant director
Walter Gasparovic	....	first assistant director
Tomas Portella	....	first assistant director
Flavia Zanini	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Lisa Amaral-Wright	....	first assistant prop master
Mary Arthurs	....	property master
Daniel Fernandez	....	stand-by props
Neil Floyd	....	art department apprentice
Mayumi Konishi	....	first assistant art director
Matt Middleton	....	second assistant art director
Aaron Morrison	....	assistant art director: graphics
Steve Stack	....	key on-set dresser

Sound Department
Paulo De Tarso Akamine	....	sound assistant
Simone Alves	....	sound re-recording assistant
Guilherme Ayrosa	....	sound mixer
Guilherme Ayrosa	....	sound
Rolando Duque	....	boom operator
Paul Germann	....	dialogue editor
Roger Hands	....	foley artist
Juliana Lago	....	sound effects editor
Alessandro Laroca	....	supervising sound editor
Eduardo Virmond Lima	....	sound effects designer
Fernando Lobo	....	sound effects editor
Antonio Mac-Dowell	....	foley mixer
David McCallum	....	supervising dialogue editor
Steve Medeiros	....	first assistant sound editor
Joe Morrow	....	sound re-recording assistant
Miriam Noronha	....	assistant foley editor
Debora Opolski	....	foley editor
Daniel Soares Pedroso	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Brent Pickett	....	first assistant sound editor
Jill Purdy	....	dialogue editor
Rob Rouse	....	boom operator
Lou Solakofski	....	sound re-recording mixer
Iain Donald Stewart	....	boom operator
Jane Tattersall	....	dialogue editor
Anderson Tieta	....	field recordist
Armando Torres Jr.	....	sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Madhava Reddy	....	digital intermediate
Andre Waller	....	digital compositor
Andre Waller	....	visual effects supervisor

Stunts
Matt Birman	....	stunt performer
Daryl Patchett	....	stunts
Alison Reid	....	stunt coordinator
Bryan Renfro	....	stunt performer
Alicia Turner	....	stunt performer
Ron Webber	....	stunt performer

Camera and Electrical Department
Israel Basso	....	grip
Darren Boyce	....	key grip
Fabio Burtin	....	first assistant camera
Paul Cameron	....	grip
Scott Cowan	....	assistant camera
Bob Davidson	....	gaffer
Greg Davis	....	grip
Henry Fong	....	grip
David Gelb	....	videographer
Brian Lataille	....	Steadicam operator
Ari Magder	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
Rahul Parekh	....	dolly grip
Anthony Police	....	best boy grip
Gonzalo Regules	....	second assistant camera: Uruguay
James Sainthill	....	camera operator: second unit
James Sainthill	....	director of photography: second unit
Jeff Smallcombe	....	grip
Dean Stinchcombe	....	first assistant camera
Fernanda Tanaka	....	first assistant camera
Mark Willis	....	camera operator
Ken Woroner	....	still photographer
Diego Zalduondo	....	video assist: Uruguay

Casting Department
Roisin McGilly	....	background casting
Christopher Richards	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Frances Cabezas Miller	....	wardrobe buyer
Darci Cheyne	....	wardrobe assistant
Victoria Dobson	....	costume supervisor
Paula Iglecio	....	wardrobe supervisor
Lisa Renee Reed	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Jim Fleming	....	digital film colorist
Rob Gyorgy	....	DI editor
Sandy Pereira	....	first assistant editor
Trevor White	....	colorist: Technicolor Toronto

Music Department
Kevin Banks	....	additional music editor
Elias Issa	....	score engineer

Other crew
Cynthia Amsden	....	unit publicist
Nadia Day	....	production coordinator
Daniel Horvat	....	production accountant
Winnifred Jong	....	script supervisor
Ronan Keane	....	first assistant accountant payroll
Alex Kontsalakis	....	first assistant accountant
Simone Lindo	....	second accounting assistant
Lilit 'Hank' Malins	....	location manager
Rita Moraes	....	production assistant
Richard Rotter	....	production assistant
Emma Sereny-Johnson	....	production assistant
Darryl Stawychny	....	production assistant
Alan Sutton	....	fire safety coordinator
Charles Taylor	....	armorer
Wendy Williamson	....	assistant production coordinator
Sherry Wolfson	....	travel assistant

Production Companies

• Rhombus Media
• O2 Filmes
• Bee Vine Pictures
• Alliance Films
• Ancine
• Asmik Ace Entertainment
• BNDES
• Corus Entertainment
• Fox Filmes do Brasil
• GAGA Communications
• IFF/CINV
• Movie Central Network
• Téléfilm Canada

Distributors

• 20th Century Fox Brazil (2008) (Brazil) (all media)
• Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (2008) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Asmik Ace Entertainment (2009) (Japan) (video)
• Blue Sky Media (2007) (Czech Republic) (all media)
• CM Entertainment (2008) (South Korea) (theatrical)
• Castello Lopes Multimedia (2008) (Portugal) (all media)
• GAGA Communications (2008) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Long Shong Entertainment Multimedia Company (2008) (Taiwan) (theatrical)
• Miramax Films (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• Odeon (2008) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Pathé (2008) (France) (theatrical)
• Pathé (2008) (UK) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (2008) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2008) (Finland) (all media)
• Shaw Organisation (2008) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Top Film (2008) (Russia) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Cinema Investment  funding
• Decca Records  soundtrack
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Hand Prop  props supplied by
• Movie Armaments Group  weapons supplied by
• Tattersall Sound  picture editing facilities
• Tattersall Sound  sound post-production
• Toronto Film Studios  movie studio
• Yazbek e Portaro Advogados  clearance services

Also Known As:

Blindness (Japan: English title)
Ensaio Sobre a Cegueira (Brazil)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence including sexual assaults, language and sexuality/nudity.

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

Canada | Brazil | Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | Netherlands:6 | Brazil:16 | UK:18 | Canada:14A | Japan:PG-12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Ireland:15A | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Rhombus Media

Trivia:

Producer Niv Fichman became interested in the project back in 1999 when he and Don McKellar, who would write the script, flew to the Canary Islands to talk to the Nobel Prize-winning Portuguese author José Saramago about giving them the film rights to his book. One of Saramago's conditions was that the film must not be set in any recognizable countries.

Quotes:

[first lines]
First Blind Man: I'm blind.

Movie Connections:

References Children of Men (2006)

a waste of time

My my my, much work needs to be done. The pacing, acting, plot and attempted use of symbolism. None of it worked and apparently so many global critics agreed. This was supposed to be a work of art for goodness sake! Instead of the work of art I was expecting I was given a shoddy pompous film that tried to mimic other great films but ended up as a very bad gruesome thriller that should have been released on DVD. Purposeless violence is rife. It was also stretched to take up time when the important aspects of the film were not really covered but pushed aside for shock value. No reasoning behind some scenes and trying to think it's smarter than the viewers gives this film a *** out of ten stars from me. And the fact is that it could have been good.