Reviews

Land of the Blind

Life is not fair. For example, Lindsay Lohan can take a squat on celluloid and every last title will receive a wide release. Robert Edwards makes a film like Land of the Blind only to have it play in New York and… New York (Outside of film festivals). There are various rumors as to why Land of the Blind didn’t receive a larger release. The most popular word on the internet says the controversial subject matter held this film back. One thing is for certain, it wasn’t a lack of star power. Seeing the names Donald Sutherland, Ralph Fiennes, and Corey McAbee was enough to get my attention. Perhaps Robert Edwards will drop me an email and shed some light on this…

Enough about the weak release for Land of the Blind, lets take a look at the movie itself. Edwards didn’t just direct but wrote the story for this feature. And before Edwards wrote and directed movies he was an Airborne Ranger. His father was a career soldier. With all that military experience why not make a movie about revolutionaries and totalitarian governments.

Land of the Blind forms a plot by taking some of the less glamorous aspects of various governments and their leaders then smashing it into one storyline. Donald Sutherland plays a political prisoner whose crime was writing a play. Ralph Fiennes is a guard who is drawn to Sutherland. Tom Hollander plays Maximilian (Jr.) the film obsessed dictator who at times seems too dumb to run a country but proves to be evil and violent enough to get his way. I’m willing to bet you can spot the political influences in this film.

After seeing the trailer for Land of the Blind I thought, “Wow. That looks pretty intense.” Then I read a comparison to Dr. Strangelove… Nothing in the trailer made me think comedy. Five minutes in it was clear LotB was going to be intense as well as a dark comedy. There is a lot of thought provoking material here. No matter what happens, no matter who runs a country, the citizens will be on the bottom wrung. A line that is repeated several times in the film is an ongoing theme, “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.”

LotB delivers strong performances from all its actors. They all seem committed to their roles and who can blame them when the material is this interesting. This is easily Donald Sutherlands 2nd best role. The best being Body Snatchers. People talk about how good Fiennes was in The Constant Gardner. Had LofB been given the opportunity to play on more screens viewers would have seen Fiennes had trumped himself. Even though it was a smaller role it was great seeing Corey McAbee as a torturer… I mean interrogator.

When all is said and done the film ends in a very surreal manner. I love it as it gives the viewer something to think about. Watch it with some friends then talk it out at the bar. The humor is sharp. The warnings are clear. As Sutherland states early on, “If voting changed anything it would be outlawed.”

Land of the Blind is easily one of the best movies most people wont hear about. So dear loyal reader, do yourself a favor and pick this movie up. Land of the Blind can be rented locally at Wild and Woolly Video. Everyone else needs to see this by any means possible.
9.5/10
Andy