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Devo Girl's Theory of Blindness in Movies

For some reason, there are more movies with blind characters than any other disability. Perhaps this is because a character can be blind and yet not disfigured, deformed or encumbered by assistive devices, not an unimportant consideration, since in Hollywood movies in particular, producers seem to think we only want to see beautiful people. Sadly, they do not see the beauty of a disabled person. Also, producers and directors seem to think that blindness is an easy disability to portray. Oh, how wrong they are. A few actors are able to act blind in a convincing manner, but the rest just act like a sighted person who never looks anyone in the eye. Devo Girl finds this very unsatisfying. Equally frustrating is the way many scripts tread oh-so-lightly around the facts of a character's blindness. Perhaps this is a misguided attempt to be PC ("This guy just happens to be blind, look at how everyone treats him as just a regular person!"), which is admirable, but in our opinion not very interesting. And why does nearly every movie show the blind character attempting to drive a car? Is that really the most entertaining thing they can think of? That said, there are a few excellent movies out there, and a whole bunch that are good for a quick thrill.

Index:

At First Sight
USA
1999
****
This movie got terrible reviews from other critics, but Devo Girl is willing to forgive almost any sin in order to see hunky Val Kilmer acting blind. Virgil (Kilmer) has been blind since early childhood, but at the insistence of his new girlfriend Amy (the insipid Mira Sorvino) he undergoes surgery which restores his sight. Unfortunately, his brain is unable to process visual information, for instance, he can't read and can't recognize people by their faces, so he finds seeing even more difficult that being blind. The story is based on a real case study by renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks, called "To See and Not See" in his book An Anthropologist on Mars (which by the way is well worth reading). In the movie Sacks is played by Nathan Lane. It's instructive to note some of the changes that took place in the Hollywood-ization of this story. Instead of Indiana, it's set in New York. Instead of an overweight, diabetic, borderline-retarded massage therapist working at the local YMCA, Virgil is hunky Val Kilmer, giving massages at a posh resort in the Catskills. Amy is likewise beautified, and Virgil is given an overprotective sister to emphasize the film's central conflict, comfort of the familiar vs. fear of the unknown. He is also given a deadbeat dad to heighten the pathos. The movie is heavy on the schmaltz, but Kilmer makes up for it with a really stellar performance. He makes a convincing blind person, and the scene where he sees himself in the mirror for the first time is memorable. Plus we get to see Virgil and Amy actually having sex without angst or embarrassment, and that alone is enough to give us that special devo thrill.

Barbarella
France/Italy [but with English dialog]
1968
****
A very campy, high fashion sci fi adventure, starring Jane Fonda as the intergalactic vixen Barbarella, on a mission in her fur-lined spaceship to defeat the evil Duran Duran (ever wonder where the band got its name?). She has lots of silly adventures with hunky aliens wherein she always seems to lose her clothes. But in the end she falls in love with a beautiful blind angel, Pygar [John Phillip Law]. So Law isn't the best actor; he more than makes up for it by being half naked and having sex with Barbarella in a big pile of feathers. Also we get to see him being dominated by the lickably evil Great Tyrant (Anita Pallenberg). Really, we couldn't ask for more.

Blind Fury
USA
1989
no stars
Words cannot describe how bad this movie is. Rutger Hauer plays a Vietnam vet, blinded in action but trained by those wacky Vietnamese villagers to fight with a sword. Then he returns to the US and kills a bunch of people. This is the most unconvincing blind person we at Devo Labs have ever seen. If you really want to see a blind swordsman, watch Zatoichi instead, the Japanese movie that this one ripped off.

Kaidan
Japan
1964
*
Also spelled Kwaidan. This is actually a series of four short tales of the supernatural, set in various times in Japan's past. Tale #4, called "Hoichi the Earless" is about a young blind musician named Hoichi. His extraordinary skill at singing and playing the lute attracts the attention of the local ghosts, who invite him to play for them. Thinking that he is playing for some noble lord, Hoichi obliges night after night. Soon the monks at the temple where Hoichi lives find out that he has been bewitched. In order to break the spell, the monks write sutras all over his body, but they forget about his ears. This is a very artistic, well-made movie, but it is also slow-moving and difficult. In particular tale #4 relies heavily on Japanese literary tradition and folk tales; if you are unfamiliar with the works alluded to, you may find it obscure. Still, the scene where the monks write on Hoichi's body is visually impressive, and clearly Peter Greenaway thought so too because he ripped it off in The Pillow Book.

Love! Valour! Compassion!
USA
1997
**
Gregory, a gay choreographer, owns a beautiful old house in the country. The movie takes place over a series of long weekends when six of his friends come to visit. Gregory's younger boyfriend Bobby (Justin Kirk) is blind. This is just about the only film here at Devo Labs that features a disabled man who is also gay. This is a very funny and touching movie, as all the characters talk, fight, tease each other, bond, etc., but the character of Bobby is sadly two-dimensional. The movie never addresses his blindness, and he remains a secondary character. Also, Kirk seems to think that acting blind is nothing more than keeping his eyes half-closed; he has clearly never met a blind person in his life. But he is pretty cute, and there are plenty of buff male bodies on display. This movie was originally an off-Broadway play, and it shows in the stagey way some of the lines are delivered. Still, in spite of these faults, it is still recommended as a pleasant evening's entertainment. Also starring Jason Alexander (George from Seinfeld).

Places in the Heart
USA
1984
***
Set in a small town in Texas during the Great Depression, Sally Field plays a young mother struggling to make ends meet, keep her farm and put her life back together after the sudden death of her husband. Danny Glover plays a farmhand who convinces her to plant a cotton crop to earn money, and John Malkovich plays Mr. Will, a blind WWI vet whom she takes in as a boarder. Unfortunately, Mr. Will is only a secondary character, but Malkovich, better known for his villainous roles, plays the part very well. The scenes where he slowly shakes off his cold exterior and befriends the young children are quite touching. Even though we don't get to see enough of Mr. Will, the movie is enjoyable on its own merits.

Proof
Australia
1991
****
A strange but intriguing take on the love triangle, this movie features some big Australian stars before they got big here in the US, namely Hugo Weaving, who played the main character in Priscilla Queen of the Desert and the bad guy in The Matrix, and Russell Crowe, who was in LA Confidential and Gladiator. Martin (Weaving) has been blind from birth, and he leads a tortured existence. He is forced to rely on sighted people to describe the world around him, but he is convinced that everyone is lying to him. It doesn't help that his housekeeper, Celia (Genevieve Picot) actually is lying to him. She's in love with him, but she expresses it by tormenting him constantly, for instance, moving furniture so he is sure to trip. But we only see her moving the furniture, and are left to imagine him tripping, just one example of the film's dry, understated humor. In an attempt to collect proof of the visual world, Martin takes pictures of everything around him. Enter Andy (Crowe) a short-order cook who meets Martin at his restaurant. Soon they become friends, and Martin entrusts Andy with the responsibility of describing his photos for him. Martin considers him an ally against Celia's machinations, Celia tries to neutralize Andy as a threat by seducing him, and it all gets very complicated. Although Weaving is not the most convincing blind man, and sexually he's terribly repressed, what makes this movie so great is that writer and director Jocelyn Moorhouse is not afraid to make us think long and hard about the nature of Martin's disability and how it has affected the way he interacts with everyone. Laudably, she depicts Celia and Andy as fascinated with him, rather than repulsed or moved to pity. Plus the obligatory driving scene is actually pretty funny.

Scent of a Woman
USA
1992
no stars
Well, OK, if you like Al Pacino, this movie will make you wet, but we don't and it didn't. Al Pacino plays Al Pacino, excuse me, Lt. Col. Frank Slade, who was forced to retire after an accident left him blind and embittered. Chris O'Donnell is the fresh-faced prep school lad hired to take care of him over Thanksgiving weekend. Predictably, things start out rough, but predictably, by the end of the weekend the two have developed a sort of father/son relationship and learned about life from each other, etc. Pacino is of the "blank stare" school of blind acting, which combined with his crusty, loud-mouthed, womanizing character, left Devo Girl utterly cold. This is a remake of a 1974 Italian movie, which is itself based on a novel, but we haven't seen either one.

Sneakers
USA
1992
*
A high-tech thriller spy movie, starring Robert Redford. Redford's character is the head of a group of spies-for-hire. They get involved in searching for some mysterious device, and of course there's lots of subterfuge and double-crosses. One of the guys on the team is a blind sonics expert named Whistler (David Strathairn). This is a good, exciting adventure movie, but there's not much here to excite the devotee imagination. Whistler is a flat, unconvincing character who is not allowed the slightest hint of sexuality. And of course there's the obligatory driving scene. Why can't we have an action movie where the blind character actually gets to DO something?

Zatoichi
Japan
1961-1973
***
This is a long-running series of films starring Katsu Shintaro as Zatoichi, the blind swordsman. (In English it's sometimes translated as Masseur Ichi. Ichi is his personal name; zato was the official title of a class of blind masseurs in feudal Japan). The movies are all set in the 18th century (the age of geishas and samurai) and the original idea is based on an actual folk tale of a blind masseur who learned to fight with a sword. The plot of each movie is similar to the American Western--Ichi finds himself in a new town, and although he just wants to be left in peace, somehow trouble always finds him, and there are lots of big fight scenes. Devo Girl highly recommends these movies even if you are not usually a fan of action movies, or Japanese movies, because Katsu is such an excellent actor--as a blind man he is totally convincing, and he portrays Ichi with humor and compassion. Also, Ichi not afraid to use his blindness to turn the tables on those who underestimate him. For instance, he loves to bet on dice games, and in many of the movies he pretends to drop the dice in order to drive up the stakes, then cleans up in the last round. The first two movies in the series, Zatoichi Monogatari, (English title, The Life and Opinions of Masseur Ichi, 1962) and Zoku Zatoichi Monogatari (The Return of Masseur Ichi) are the best. In all, there are 25 Zatoichi movies, about half of which have been subtitled into English. At the height of his popularity, Katsu made a new movie every two months; inevitably some are better than others. One highlight is Zatoichi vs. Yojimbo which co-stars Mifune Toshiro in a reprise of his Ronin role.

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