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Jornal da Mostra
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31ª Mostra > 14/05/2008
Text: Leon Cakoff, from Cannes, to ‘Jornal da Mostra’
BLINDNESS IS BRILLIANT!
The first screening of BLINDNESS, by Fernando Meirelles, that opened the 61st
Cannes Festival competition, left the press in shock. The press conference which
followed was contagious with thrill, the packed room with journalists from all
over the world, with a generous Meirelles, who calmly let his cast speak out,
and a Danny Glover in state of grace, and who had one of the best answers: “Blindness
is around us, in the politicians, in the Iraq war, nobody sees the misery of
the world, with so many people surviving with less than a dollar a day”.
One journalist couldn’t stop herself in complimenting and already predicted
Julianne Moore’s nomination to the Oscar, “an extraordinary interpretation”.
And the first official screening of BLINDNESS, in the opening evening in Cannes,
was pure ovation. The film is brilliant. First of all, for the extraordinary
ability to adapt José Saramago’s book to the screen. Secondly,
for the innovative and daring cinematography by César Chalone, and the
not tiring effusion of the difficult tones of white and out-of-focus scenes.
And still for the precise direction, always surprising and inventive, by Fernando
Meirelles, for all the actors he directed, for the plastic beauty of São
Paulo along the film, for the political tone of the thriller, and all metaphors
about a white blindness that is contagious and makes the confined ones show,
in prison, all the selfish bestialities of the external world when they could
see.
The screening in Cannes was digital. “It was an option we made not to
have the risk to spoil the absolute white scenes. If it were film, the print
would suffer the risk of being scratched or getting dirty screening after screening”.
Even for its digital projection, BLINDNESS was brilliant.
“Cannes”, according to Hector Babenco, “was generous and recognized
the mistake they made when they didn’t invite CITY OF GOD/ CIDADE DE DEUS
for the competition in 2002, and this year they corrected it by inviting him
to open the festival”. Even so, Fernando Meirelles gained world projection
with CITY OF GOD. Now, with BLINDNESS, no blindness will remain.
English version: Laura
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