| Land of the Blind |  | Director: Robert Edwards
Actors: Ralph Fiennes, Donald Sutherland, Lara Flynn Boyle, Tom Hollander, Camilla Rutherford
Category: DVD
Buy New: $6.99
as of 2/9/2010 16:18 EST details
New (2) Used (1) from $6.96
Seller: inetvideo
Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 215324
Format: NTSC
Rating: R (Restricted)
ASIN: B00005JP6X
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 18
 Visually exciting with a great plot January 30, 2010
Jim Gateley (Sunnyvale, CA)
4 of 5 stars for the very odd political drama satire movie Land of the Blind. Frankly, I don't know how to review this movie; it is really odd and strange. thought I was not going to like it when it started but I got drawn-in and really liked it. OK, I'll try... They have created a little country with a dictator. What is cool is that the graphical look of the movie is a strange combination of the world during the 1930's and yet also the 2000's. Imagine a color TV using a horn from a Vicktrola as a speaker. They have combined fashions of old and new. There are reference to very modern real-world people places and events yet it is a technology throw-back to the 30's and 40's. In a way, I think they were going for a Cuba-like look. If I tell you any of the primary storyline it would spoil the movie. I will say that Donald Sutherland delivers a great performance! Ralph Fiennes plays the lead role and is amazing! Those two guys stole the movie! A shout-out to Lara Flynn Boyle who plays the strange wife of the dictator. Who is really running the country her or him? How odd ball is this movie? There is a scene where him and her are having bedroom costume play while projecting an adult movie onto a screen which is really two people standing there; wow-odd.
Yes, I do recommend this movie. The DVD lacked alot of behind-the-scenes stuff. For this movie, I'd really have enjoyed hearing the thinking behind the visual design, costume design and the crazy plot.
 For those interested in Dystopia and Revolutionary Politics themes... November 8, 2009
Shawn Harrison (Austin, TX)
If you were a fan of Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" then you will most likely enjoy this movie. There are many great historical references, so a basic understanding of various revolutions like the French Revolution, the Irish Troubles, WWII Germany & Russia, South Africa's apartheid, etc, will definitely help the viewer get the most out of this film.
The Infinite Sadness of the Truly Free February 18, 2009
A. Dent (Minas Anor, GD)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
What is freedom? What is happiness and where do we find ourselves if we're pursuing them too enthusiastically? Pol Pot's Cambodia, Lenin's Russia, Khomeini's Iran, Castro's Cuba, Kim's North Korea, Hitler's Germany, Robespierre's France, Ceausescu's Romania... early 3d Millennium America? And then, there's 'the day(s) after'. What do we do after we defeat and punish our tormentors, once the victory is ours and our power seems to be absolute. We find more enemies, what else. And we work hard at it. And we keep going until it's our turn to the guillotine or to the labor camps.
This is not an easy to watch movie because it's not an us vs. them pattern (us good, them bad) but rather 'us' and 'them' taking turns to be the baddies, an exercise in self-destruction and perpetual humiliation. Just to make sure that we get the message, it all starts with 'them' in power, then one of 'them' replaces another, then 'us' manage to overthrow 'them', then 'us' turn against ourselves and become worse then 'them', then 'they' come back.
On that background, that who was the tool of the oppressor (Hollander) turns into a tool of the liberator (Sutherland) who, in turn, becomes oppressor but he (Fiennes) will never be a tool again as he accepts his fate of the forever prisoner. There's nothing original about this. Thoreau noted that "under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison ... the only house in a slave State in which a free man can abide with honor." And Fiennes, playing 'Joe the good soldier' keeps his honor intact and keeps himself in jail.
Like I said, this is not an easy movie to watch. Black and white, shocking archive scenes - Edison electrocuting an elephant - are blended with with images of torture or kitsch luxury and grotesque orgies. We, who never came close to a Pol Pot-induced nightmare are likely to look the other way when unwashed prisoners, using their own feces to write slogans on their jail's walls, pop up on the screen. Like those legendary frogs, we still feel comfortable while the gradually warmer water is slowly cooking us into a delicious, nutritious, totalitarian soup. It can never happen here we think as we try to make ourselves watch for a while longer. Only that it can because this IS our human nature, to do whatever it takes to dominate and humiliate our fellow humans, to show them who is in charge and to make them accept us as the ones in charge. And we never seem to learn.
I don't know if I'm going to watch this movie again soon but I am glad that I did watch it once. Watching it is not entertainment and it can be painful but it can be good medicine too, providing some temporary relief to some diseases that come with our human nature. 'Memento mori' - remember that you will die - the victorious Roman warriors were reminded at the moment of their triumph. That, and, remember that you are probably played like a pawn in some more or less subtle domination game.
Robert Edwards, writer and director, Sutherland, Fiennes, everyone who was part of this project deserves praise, respect and appreciation for their courage, their understanding and their hard work. I don't believe anyone got rich out of this effort but everyone should feel good about themselves for doing what had to be done and making a statement that had to be made.
Small 3d world dictatorship movie classic. February 13, 2009
robert
This movie needs to be watched from beginning to end to get the whole story. But, it is worth it. Interesting music too.
"In the Land of the Blind, the one-eyed man is King"-Desiderius Erasmus February 3, 2009
Medusa (Troy, MI)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the story of every nation ruled by a dictator, where the people dream of a better life and support a revolution but the old dictator is overthrown and replaced by a greater villainous scourge. There are countless examples of citizens' disappointment when they discover that the devil that is now in charge is worse than the devil they had before. After all, Man's greatest achievement is his unlimited capacity for self deception.
Maximilian II is an absoulte dictator in a land named "Everycountry", who declares himself "president for life".Joe, played by Ralph Fiennes, is a security guard working at the prison where Thorne (Sutherland), a carismatic intellectual rebel is treated savagly. Joe feels in his heart that Throne is a good man and learns a lot about him while bonding with him. When Maximilian seeks popular support, he releases Throne from jail, to serve as a government member. Joe is promoted to serve as a guard at Maximilian's palace. Because Joe trust Thorne he allows Thorne and his followers into Maximilian's inner chambers, where Thorne kills Maximilian and his wife.
Joe watches in terror as Thorne, whom he had idolized, transforms into a villain, who rules "Everycountry" with absolute totalitarianism, Education is prohibited, women are covered with burqas and thinkers are sent to re-education camps. When Joe realizes he has been deceived, he refuses to work for the new government and he is sent to a re-education camp where he is treated far worse than Thorne had been treated in prison.
As much as I love Sutherland, he was so convincing that I deeply hated the character. Finnes is magnificent as always, watching him listen to the re-education Camp Director Saying : "A stale piece of bread is better than nothing. And nothing is better than a big juicy steak. Therefore a stale piece of bread is better than a big juicy steak" brings back many images of struggling deceived nations.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 18
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