‘Blindness’ succeeds, despite its blind spots

Fernando Meirelles’ film “Blindness” is hardly an original vision, so to speak. It follows in a long line of more recent post-apocalypse movies, including:

“Children of Men” : Alfonso Cuaron’s adaptation of P.D. James’ novel about life disintegrating after men suddenly go sterile.

“I Am Legend” : Francis Lawrence’s adaptation of Richard Matheson’s novel about a plague wiping out every human in New York City except one (Will Smith).

“28 Days Later” : Danny Boyle’s reinvention of the zombie flick, plus its follow-up “28 Weeks Later.”

“Time of the Wolf” : Michael Haneke’s somber, no compromising look at the French turning on one another following an unexplained catastrophe.

“Last Night” : “Blindness” screenwriter/star Don McKellar wrote and directed this original look at the last night on Earth.

“The Happening” : M. Night Shyamalan gives us a creepy trek into the weird that, in the end, devolves into just another of his gimmick films.

And coming on Nov. 26: John Hillcoat’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel “The Road,” which follows the struggles of a man and his son to survive the devastation of another unexplained event.

So “Blindness,” which has a group of people trying to survive after the whole population (except for Julianne Moore) going blind, isn’t particularly original. The thing that it has going for it, though, is the filmmaking ability of the Brazilian-born Meirelles, who did so well with “City of God” and “The Constant Gardener” (one of the best films of 2005).

It is Meierelles who makes McKellar’s slight story and bare characterization into a filmmaking exercise, one that captures the claustrophobic feel of what the characters’ struggle would be like without ever giving us a good feel for who each personally is. In his hands, “Blindness” is far more than just another genre study. It becomes actual cinema.

Below: Mark Ruffalo and Julianne Moore play husband and wife in Fernando Meirelles’ post-apocalypse film “Blindness.”

Associated Press photo