Blindness

"It feels like I'm swimming in milk." The White Sickness begins with a young professional struck blind while behind the wheel. An abrupt affliction of unknown origins, it soon spreads from a local to a global epidemic. Ruffalo, the eye doctor, becomes blind and is forced into quarantine, along with his wife Moore, who feigns blindness to stay with him. Despite their stifled relationship, Moore remains staunchly dedicated to her husband and all of the others who join them and become dependent on her secret sight. Although loss of vision does not equate to a downward spiral of corruption, the savage prison existence that the multicultural cast is forced into leads to just that. Women are the thankless heroines here, consistently bearing the burdens, providing comfort, and sticking their necks out in unexpected ways. This is perhaps best demonstrated when they band together to cleanse the body of a martyr, in a scene reminiscent of biblical art. Beautifully shot to give the viewer a sense of visual deterioration, this film is fraught with metaphorical statements on the different ways people are guilty of being blind. Race, identity, sex and age are all challenged subjects, as unlikely relationships are forged. [Sara Nowak]