Blindness: Movie Trailer

I'm very excited about this. The movie "Blindness", which I worked on as an extra for one day last summer is being released in theatres today.

Based upon the novel by José Saramago, The story takes place in an anonymous city where the citizens are being infected by a plague of Blindness, and the only way to contain the plague is to commit the infected citizens into a decommissioned sanitarium. Julianne Moore's character is the only one in the sanitarium who retains her sight. Chaos ensues among the patients when the food starts to dwindle and the living conditions become increasingly violent.

Much hubub has been made surrounding the release of this movie. The National Federation for the Blind is planning on picketing the film because they believe that the "movie portrays blind people as monsters." I don't personally think that the movie turns blind people into monsters. I think the reason for the depiction of monsterous acts in the film have more to do with the fact that the people are being confined against their own will. The same way that The Lord Of The Flies doesn't necessarily intentionally depict children as little monsters, but when you're in a desperate situation all reason escapes the mind. It's more of a take on society in general.
See for yourselves though. Go see the movie and look for me in the scene where the sanitarium is on fire. I doubt I'll be visible but it's exciting none the less. My friend Trish has a much larger part than me. She was an extra on the film for weeks.

The film is directed by Fernando Meirelles (City Of God, The Constant Gardener), and stars Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Sandra Oh. I saw all of them on set but Sandra.