2008's "Blindness" (Blindness), also translated as "Blindness", was the opening film of the 61st Cannes Film Festival in 2008, and was also a nominated film for the Palme d'Or in the main competition unit of the Cannes Film Festival. , this film is adapted from the Nobel Prize-winning novel "Blindness" by Portuguese writer José Saramago, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998.
In fact, the original novel of "Blindness" was published in 1995 and received a strong response from readers, but the author of the novel, Jose Saramago, has always had a negative attitude towards adapting this film into a movie. Lamargo believes that this book is about the origin of human nature. The book is full of the inevitable degeneration and demise of human society when disaster strikes, as well as the accompanying moral decline, violence and civilization. Vulnerability, all of this will be uncomfortable and unbearable, so if this film is arbitrarily adapted, it will bring very strong negative emotions and negative attitudes, even anger and rejection, which is what José Saramago has never been. The reason why I wish my novel could be visualized. In the three years from 1996 to 1999, José Saramago rejected a total of five directors and producers, including the film's director Fernando Merrills, who wanted to adapt the novel until the end of 1999. Tony Award screenwriter Don Michaeller and film producer Neve Fitchman visited the door in person and persuaded him to let Jose Saramagosson, who has always insisted not to make his work into a movie Mouth, of course, this kind of slack comes with many restrictions during the production of the film, one of which is that Saramago is worried that the main shooting location of the film will be affected by the dark atmosphere of the story, and being recognized by the audience will be associated with this location. Sexuality also produces disgust and negative emotions, so it is required that the isolation facility must be set to a fully closed state, not even windows, and no long-range lenses.
Because the film thoroughly depicts the darkness of human nature, the reputation has been extremely polar from the beginning, especially about the series of Virgin-like behaviors of the heroine played by Julianne Moore, especially when she has a strong advantage and encounters violence. In the early stage, he still chose to endure and compromise, which aroused the resentment and resentment of many audiences. But on the other hand, there is another interpretation. If you have read the original novel, you will know (Sun and Moon have read it a few years ago) that the heroine's wife, who is a doctor in the novel, is an extremely enthusiastic, kind and kind person. Although not everyone around her likes her, no one really hates her. Such a person who has always faced the world with an understanding of others, tolerance and compromise since the age of 30 or 40, facing all kinds of darkness after being isolated, still has hope and kindness in her heart, which is why she has always insisted on helping in such an environment Others, listening to others, the reason why they still choose to compromise and tolerate in the face of violence and unfair treatment. But this film, as well as the original novel, focuses on exposing human nature. Even a woman who has been doing good for thirty or forty years, and who has basically been shaped by her rational character and behavior model, will undergo subversive changes in such a dark environment. Therefore, in the second half of the film, she began to resist and fought relentlessly for survival. The phenomena and truths revealed by this transformation are extremely shocking and thought-provoking. A small, kind old lady who has been amiable for decades, in the face of despair and human nature, may also split into a cold-blooded slaughter who fights for survival. If the audience pays attention, they will find that many details in the film describe and imply this radical transformation of the heroine from general goodness to fighting only for herself: .
After escaping from the shelter, the heroine found a mountain of stored food in the storehouse of the supermarket, but after she packed two bags, facing countless other hungry blind people who were also looking for food, she chose to ignore it and chose Leaving quickly, at this time, she is no longer like her in the first half of the film, wearing the halo of the Virgin, helping everyone, and believing in forbearance and understanding; at this time, she firmly chose selfishness and chose to adapt to this society. At this time, she only saw her husband and a few surviving friends who fought together all the way. Afterwards, she would kiss the poor stray dogs on the street, but she would not even go back to the supermarket to pick up the lost clothes. She understood that the most dangerous thing turned out to be people, the people who she had been helping with her conscience and kindness in the first half of the film. At this time, she just wanted to stay away from them. The heroine of this attitude and behavior pattern is unimaginable to the audience in the first half of the film, and this change is the complete change caused by the lessons and costs brought to her by her Virgin behavior and the flood of kindness in the sanctuary . In the face of this transformation, we cannot simply say that this is better, and we cannot simply evaluate that selfishness and cold-bloodedness for survival must be better than kindness and mutual assistance, but we can only accept this result with a little sadness and helplessness, because she does not There is no choice. As the audience, we also understand that this not-so-good outcome and transformation is also her only choice.
The evaluation of this film is bound to be polarized, but I still hope that fans will view it calmly and rationally, otherwise it will confirm the original author Jose Saramago's fear of not adapting the story into a movie. I know he's right to be worried, but I sincerely hope he's wrong.
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