News	News category

Author decries Blindness protests as misguided

04.10.2008 19:03 Arts - Source: cbc.ca

Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago, pictured here in 2006, says his book depicts "the blindness of rationality."(Guillermo Arias/Associated Press)

Nobel literature laureate Jose Saramago has dismissed protests about a film adaptation of his book Blindness.

The Portuguese author called the picketing of theatres by a U.S. association of blind people a "display of meanness based on nothing at all." Saramago said the organization was misguided.

The Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind said it would protest at the movie's opening weekend.

Marc Maurer, the federation's president, said Thursday that the movie "portrays blind people as monsters, and I believe it to be a lie."

On Friday night, demonstrators turned up at about 75 theatres in 38 states.

Book is an allegory about rationality

Saramago has described his 1995 novel as disturbing allegory that depicts "a blindness of rationality."

In the book, a mysterious epidemic causes people to see nothing but fuzzy white light, triggering the breakdown of social order.

"Stupidity doesn't choose between the blind and the non-blind," Saramago told Portuguese radio station TSF on Friday.

Miramax released a statement last month that said director Fernando Meirelles, an Academy Award nominee for City of God, had "worked diligently to preserve the intent and resonance of the acclaimed book," which it described as "a courageous parable about the triumph of the human spirit when civilization breaks down."

Directed from a script by Canadian Don McKellar, Blindness has already been screened in Cannes and at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Its international cast includes Canadians Sandra Oh, Susan Coyne, Martha Burns and McKellar as well as Mexico's Gael Garcia Bernal, Brazilian actress Alice Braga and American actors Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo.

Story Tools: E-MAIL | PRINT | Text Size: S M L XL | REPORT TYPO | SEND YOUR FEEDBACK

Internal Links

FEATURE: Vision quest: Don McKellar talks about adapting the novel Blindness for the big screen Meirelles's film portrays blind 'as monsters': advocacy group

More Film Headlines

Visa problems hit Vancouver film festivalThe Vancouver International Film Festival is suffering from a spate of no-shows by filmmakers due to visa complications, according to the Globe and Mail newspaper. Action! Bollywood back to work after deal struckUnions in Bollywood, India's movie industry, have struck a tentative deal with producers for better pay and working conditions, ending a strike that began on Wednesday. Author decries Blindness protests as misguidedNobel literature laureate Jose Saramago has dismissed protests about a film adaptation of his book Blindness. Scorsese, De Niro return to Mob stories for new movieDirector Martin Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro will return to Mob territory for a film based on a real-life contract killer.Actors to honour life achievement of James Earl JonesJames Earl Jones, the venerable actor renowned for his commanding, mellifluous voice and powerful physical presence, is to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild.

More Arts Headlines

U.K. musicians band together for more rightsSome of Britain's biggest music stars are banding together to demand greater control over their music in the digital age. Radiohead, Robbie Williams and Kaiser Chiefs are among more than 60 founding members of the Featured Artists' Coalition. Visa problems hit Vancouver film festivalThe Vancouver International Film Festival is suffering from a spate of no-shows by filmmakers due to visa complications, according to the Globe and Mail newspaper. Action! Bollywood back to work after deal struckUnions in Bollywood, India's movie industry, have struck a tentative deal with producers for better pay and working conditions, ending a strike that began on Wednesday. Quebec duo last of 5 anthem challenge semifinalistsThe songwriting team of Christian St. Roch from Chateauguay, Que., and Jimmy Tanaka of Verdun, Que., grabbed the last semifinal spot Friday in Canada's Hockey Anthem Challenge with their entry, Let the Game Begin.Author decries Blindness protests as misguidedNobel literature laureate Jose Saramago has dismissed protests about a film adaptation of his book Blindness.