- published: 10 Jul 2008
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Blindness is a 2008 English-language film that is an adaptation of the 1995 novel of the same name by the Portuguese writer José Saramago about a society suffering an epidemic of blindness. The film is written by Don McKellar and directed by Fernando Meirelles with Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo as the main characters. Saramago originally refused to sell the rights for a film adaptation, but the producers were able to acquire it with the condition that the film would be set in an unnamed and unrecognizable city. Blindness premiered as the opening film at the Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 2008, and the film was released in the United States on October 3, 2008.
The story of Blindness begins on a morning in an unnamed city during rush-hour traffic. As the traffic lights change, a young Japanese professional (Yusuke Iseya) is suddenly struck blind for no apparent reason and blocks all the traffic behind his car. With the honking horns of the other frustrated drivers causing a commotion, the Japanese man is approached by a few concerned people, one of whom (Don McKellar) offers to drive him home. As they proceed to drive away, the blinded man describes his sudden affliction: an expanse of dazzling white, as though he is "swimming in milk." Eventually they arrive at the Japanese man's upscale apartment, but as soon as he assures his rescuer that he'll be fine waiting there for his wife to come home, the "rescuer" departs with the car keys and steals the vehicle.