Land of the Blind - 2006
Cinematographer Emmanuel Kadosh creates an over exposed world where stark faces are bleached out and white rooms are washed into a single visual that is fascinating to see. Attention is given to costume & set design and they come together to bring us a world that is part fantasy, part period piece.
The movie is narrated by Joe (Ralph Fiennes) from his jail cell. We are given periods of his life throughout the pervious couple decades that tell the story of how he got there. As a security guard for the country's most dangerous political prisoner, Thorne (Donald Sutherland) he begins to sympathize with the prisoner and questions whether the current dictator Maximilian II (Tom Hollander) is really good for the country. He comes to the conclusion that he isn't and the ensuing series of events puts him at odds with his country, no matter who is in charge.
The different repressive governments represented here are fascinating. We see shades of fascist dictatorship, socialist revolution, Islamofascism, military authoritarianism, demented child king and media manipulation. There is no left or right lean, no current political comment to make. This is political satire at its best. It says, "Absolute power corrupts, absolutely." This is about the fragility of the human condition, not about any particular belief system.
Tom Hollander looks like he is having great fun with this script. Obviously there are veiled references to North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il in his character. Fiennes is always intense and riveting in his work. I first saw him in Schindler's List as the German camp officer Amon Goeth. His roles always seem to require such intensity.
Land of the Blind disappeared from the theatres almost as soon as it was released. I'm bucking the trend here giving it 4 stars. Most critics panned it. Perhaps they missed the satire. The acting is top notch and if you are looking for a political message to support your personal theories, you will be disappointed. I didn't and I wasn't.
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