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Ralph Fiennes,
Ralph Fiennes,
Donald Sutherland,
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Robert Edwards,
Robert Edwards
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: Bauer
: Drama, Political Satire
: 101 min.
: English
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The debut film by director Robert Edwards, Land of the Blind, is a political satire starring Ralph Fiennes as a military man who helps overthrow his government. He does so at the urging of a political prisoner, played by Donald Sutherland, who has been outspoken about the corruption of the current regime. The soldier learns that corruption may in fact be an inevitable part of having power. Set in an unnamed country without ever giving indication of a specific time period, the allegorical film had its North American debut at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
 Documentary filmmaker Robert Edwards calls his debut fictional feature, Land of the Blind, starring Ralph Fiennes and Donald Sutherland, a "satiric political drama about terrorism, assassination, and the power of memory." Read our exclusive interview with the director.
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| Blindsided
by talltale
August 22, 2006 - 8:10 PM PDT
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2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
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A box-office disaster (independent-wise, at least) of major proportions, LAND OF THE BLIND, I suspect, had many people rooting against it from the beginning. According to the "making of" section on the DVD, the screenplay was the winner of some sort of prize that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hands out, and if that isn't already the kind of near-kiss-of-death that only something like "Project Greenlight" might better (or worsen), then the fact that a first-time full-length filmmaker (Robert Edwards, who wrote and directed) could land a cast that included Ralph Fiennes, Donald Sutherland and Tom Hollander must have made a lot of industry folk envious beyond belief.
Yes, the finished product is certainly flawed, but LOTB is rarely uninteresting and almost always enjoyable to watch, even when you are muttering to yourself, "It is utterly unbelievable that a government this nasty and corrupt would not have killed Thorne long ago!" You'll know what I mean when you see the film, and I hope you do--if only to enjoy some of its wit and its often clever take on the future (and the past). Here, television news has at last incorporated commercials for the very companies who are currently making the news (good or bad) and reruns of "Friends," of course, are still VERY popular. There's a nice, live-action version of a famous French painting here, too, plus good performances from a top-notch cast.
At movie's end, although I had begun by pooh-poohing most vehemently, I realized that I'd become more wrapped up in the plight of Joe (the Fiennes character) than I would have imagined. As a film director and writer, Edwards has a lot on his mind--maybe too much for one movie--but I'll take that any day over someone who has nothing there but some with-it notion of style. Purely for the opportunity to hear W.B. Yeats' great poem "The Second Coming" spoken so well, I'd recommend this hugely problemed, inconsistent but not incoherent movie. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.20)
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