Blind: Un rêve éveillé

Blind is one of those films which is very different and exciting, and tells a story very differently than the standard film. After watching a ton of movies it's very refreshing to see something different.

A woman is about to lose her eye sight, and is locked up in her apartment with nothing else than her own imagination and a computer on which she can write, when her husband goes to work. She is rehearsing to be totally blind. In the start we follow several persons, but without telling too much, things basically revolves around the blind woman.

It's in many ways a very sensible film, where her sense of lacking something is a drive of the movie. Basically this is a film about loneliness, and coping with a new reality, and also using senses. This film gave hints to Bergman (Persona) and Hitchcock (several) and some other movies with blind persons, obviously. And the film references to a lot of others as well as a part of the story.

This is first feature directed by script writer Eskil Vogt, previously especially known for the critically acclaimed Reprise, directed by Joachim Trier. Be sure to follow this mans next films.

A blind woman, Ingrid, lives life trapped in her apartment, afraid to go outside. Married when she could see, she worries that her disability has caused her husband to stop loving her. She starts to imagine her husband is cheating on her, and those thoughts grow into a longer, more convoluted narrative with two characters, a lonely, porn-addicted man and a mousey woman lacking in self-esteem. The boundaries between real life and Ingrid's imagination start to blur, and the film proceeds as a series of reveals of Ingrid's husbands actions as either real of part of Ingrid's narrative. As Ingrid starts to live more in her imaginary world and give up on the real world, her husband's invitation to a party forces a crisis. Ingrid must learn to live again, or slip completely into her inner world. A clever, involving screenplay that keeps you on your toes.

4 of 10. Outside of studying it for how government propaganda works in film, I see no point to this film. In an attempt to cover its trail, unlike religious propaganda, it doesn't hold back on sex and other societal no-nos. In this film, it all has that poseur feeling.

Some will comment on its complexity, but it's not that complex. It tries to be just as it tries to shock and awe. Unless you have no other way to see fast clips of Internet porn that no one would want to watch other than with drunk/high friends to laugh at, having someone narrate how to interpret it is far from intricate or original art.

I'm sure there are better stories for getting inside a blind person's head. If not, either out of disgust or inspiration, more should pop and from different cultures. Wait for them. Maybe one will have a blind person riding a bike.

Vanguard stream of consciousness works, literary works and real life intertwined. The front is sleepy, the middle is confusing, but the back is surprising.

Not exactly sure of everything I just watched, but I will say that it reminds me of both Persona and 3 Women, and to me that's a mighty high compliment to give. Some really strong performances and some wonderful direction, definitely one that requires multiple viewings and I can't wait to revisit it. It sort of pulls you in and doesn't let go, and the more it goes on the more you're intrigued but also the more you're left wondering, just like both of the films I mentioned at the top. Truly captivating stuff, one that I'm sure not everyone will take to (aesthetically, reminds me a bit of last year's Upstream Color) but that will certainly garner discussion.