Review of Blind (2014) by Louise D — 31 Oct 2016

Norwegian language with subtitles.

It is a surreal art film from writer Eskil Vogt who also did 'Oslo, Aug 31st'. It opens with Ingrid, an attractive young woman who has recently become blind and her caring husband, Morten. She narrates the film as a voice-over. She struggles to cope with her situation, as she bangs into things in the kitchen. Her days are spent alone in the flat as she is too scared to go out or go to any social event with her husband. She has a wild sexual imagination with a dose of jealousy, which has only increased with her lack of sight. She is convinced that her husband is chatting on an online dating site rather than just typing an email right next to her in bed and that he sometimes sneaks into the flat to look at what she's doing.

Then it segues to a lonely porn obsessed man, Einar, who desperately wants a real relationship. The third lead character is a newly divorced young mother, Elin, who has her son only on weekends. Each one is desperately lonely in different ways. Einar and Morten happen to meet in a cinema and as they are former college friends they go to chat in a café. But then things go distinctly odd as they are suddenly chatting on a train, then they are back in the café again. What on earth is going on? The husband has a one night stand with Elin - or does he? And whilst meeting for the first time and chatting in a bar, Elin is suddenly blind, then she's not. This disjointedness continues for quite a while with increasingly outlandish situations involving Elin and Morten. You can't tell what's real and what isn't. Without wanting to spoil the story, towards the end of the film it becomes apparent what is going on.

You can take the film as an abstract exploration of jealousy, sex, intimacy and motherhood. - or not! It is an excellent, unusual art film.