Land of the Blind

Now here is a movie that is original, interesting, and deals with a well-worn, potentially hackneyed subject in a fresh and original way.

Everycountry is an allegorical land ruled by Maximillian II (Tom Hollander), an incompetent petty tyrant who lives in the shadow of his father. He is more concerned with personal indulgence - including a decidedly inept film career - than the welfare of his people, and imprisoned playwright-turned-freedom fighter Thorne (Donald Sutherland) orchestrates a rebellion against his corrupt rule. In the middle of this is Joe (Ralph Fiennes), a career soldier who comes to despise Maximillian and willingly helps Thorne's coup d'etat. When Thorne proves just as evil and villainous, however, Joe finds himself soon enough an "enemy of the people".

Hollywood usually tackles the dystopian future storyline in the same predictable manner: grim seriousness about an oppressive, dehumanizing police state. George Orwell, and to a lesser extent Aldous Huxley and Ray Bradbury, perfected this kind of story; everyone writing since has been in their shadow, and movies like Children of Men are inevitably pale imitations. Innumerable sci-fi films use similar settings without really dealing with their environments, using them mostly as a backdrop (Soylent Green, Blade Runner). Then there is V For Vendetta, which came out the same year as this film. V was technically well-made but its political content amounts to little more than tiresome, immature Revolution-chic posturing; it's cool to fight the status quo, consequences be damned. Terry Gilliam's wickedly humorous Brazil is the only film that breaks this mould, and is a useful basis of comparison for the film under discussion; but really, one has gotten heartily sick of the "individual fighting against the oppressive system" storyline repeated ad nauseum in the same grim, stentorian manner again and again.

Land of the Blind avoids many of the inevitable pitfalls of its genre. Instead of straining to make itself an outgrowth of the modern political state, it incorporates a plethora of historical (and literary) allusions to show that tyranny and repression are not limited to any group, race, demographic, religion or ideology. It also presents itself as a nasty dark comedy, very much in the spirit of something like Monty Python's Flying Circus or The Ruling Class (or the aforementioned Brazil). The message itself isn't at all original, but the way it is presented certainly is.

The film's comedic sense is flexible and biting. It ridicules everyone it can set its sights on. Writer-director Robert Edwards' script is full of sharp, biting wit, ranging from clever dialogue ("We'd try you by a jury of your peers, but we couldn't find 12 dictators") to occasional absurdity (Maximillian and his wife are arrested whilst in the middle of a kinky sex game) that seems to fit in the general context of the movie. Many of the policies and actions of the two governments would be absurd were they not based so closely on fact (Maximillian's passion for cinema uncannily resembling that of Kim Jong-Il, for instance). Truth is stranger than fiction, as this film proves.

More than anything else, the film deals with the ever-present, transcendant nature of Evil, tyranny and corruption, which knows no boundaries of ideology or class. The movie is chock full of historical allusions to make the point, from the Kim Jong-Il-clone Maximillian, to the Karl Marx-esque, Mao-jacket adorned Thorne, the venal bewigged aristocrats who can't even speak their own language out of Tsarist Russia, the Khmer Rouge-esque arrest of bespectacled "intellectuals", the brutal Ceaucescu-style execution of Maximillian and Thorne's own death a la Jean-Paul Marat. More than being simply a treat for history buffs like myself, this is what sets the film above most of its counterparts; it is not advocating an ideological position, but like the Orwell of Animal Farm, sees everyone as capable of evil, and that absolute power inevitably leads to corruption.

Most Hollywood dystopian dramas would see the overthrow of Maximillian's government as the climax of the film, but this film makes it only the beginning of a new nightmare. Where V For Vendetta ends with the triumph of the Revolution, Land of the Blind goes on to show that it's not really a triumph at all. Joe's line to Thorne: "Before the Revolution, Man served Man; now it's the other way around" does a perfect job of summarizing the film's attitude. The cartoonish, ineffectual evil of Maximillian's government is an easy straw man to knock down, but when Thorne shows up to knock him down, his cold-hearted, calculated and emotionless evil (with a smile) proves even worse.

The cast is made up of a plethora of fine actors. Ralph Fiennes strangely gives the weakest principal performance; usually a fiery, compelling actor, he's strangely subdued here. He's not bad by any means, but he pales next to his co-stars, playing probably the film's least interesting character. Donald Sutherland (not coincidentally resembling Karl Marx) gives a wonderful performance; he seems like a fairly typical freedom fighter, but he allows the evil inherent in his character to come out gradually. Lara Flynn Boyle gives a fun performance as Maximillian's egomaniacal wife, with shades of Lady MacBeth. Mackenzie Crook has a hilarious bit as an editor forced to work on one of the President's films, and talented character actors like Jonathan Hyde, Marc Warren, Ron Cook, Don Warrington and Robert Dawes contribute fine supporting turns.

Undoubtedly, however, the best performance is Tom Hollander. Hollander has been a favorite of mine since Pirates of the Caribbean, and he's been growing on me ever since. His Kim Jong-Il clone Maximillian is too over-the-top and ludicrous to really take seriously, but Hollander plays the role for all its worth, having fun with it and delivering the right note of menace to underline his performance. His scenes as hack film director ("My films are known for their subtext... it needs the right mis-en-SEEN!") are particularly hilarious; but I especially like his amused and incredulous reaction to being sentenced to death, showing his true nature as a pathetic, ignorant slug (and yet instantly more sympathetic than his ruthless deposers). Hollander is a marvellous actor, and it's a shame he's not getting more recognition than he is.

Land of the Blind is an all-around brilliant film, possessing the maturity, intelligence and insight so lacking from most of its mainstream counterparts. It's not for everyone, but above all else it's a film that thinks; and in this day and age, I will applaud it for that alone.

Rating: 9/10 - Highest Recommendation