''Blind'' is a 2007 Dutch

romantic drama Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

film written and directed by Tamar van den Dop, in her

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

, and starring Joren Seldeslachts,

Halina Reijn Halina Reijn (; born 10 November 1975) is a Dutch actress, writer and film director. Early life and education Halina Reijn was born on 10 November 1975 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Fleur ten Kate and Frank Volkert Reijn (1931–1986). Reijn's ...

, Katelijne Verbeke and

Jan Decleir Jan Decleir (born as ''Jan Amanda Gustaaf Decleir'' on 14 February 1946) is a prolific Belgian movie and stage actor born in Niel, Antwerp. Career He had his first big role in Fons Rademakers's ''Mira'' (1971). Since then, he has appeared in ...

. The film follows a blossoming romance between a young blind man and an albino woman who is hired by the man's mother to read for him.

Plot

Ruben (Joren Seldeslachts) is a lone and unbalanced young man who lost his sight in childhood. Marie (

) is an

albino Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and reddish pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albinos. Varied use and interpretation of ...

woman of temperate look and with a lot of insecurities. She has a beautiful voice and along with Ruben shares a mutual love for books and tales. Ruben's mother hires her as a reader to read her son books orally. While they live in a mansion, between these two lonely souls sparks

love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

, but will love still be blind if the man recovers from his blindness?

Cast

* Joren Seldeslachts plays Ruben Rietlander, a main protagonist character who had lost his sight in childhood. *

plays Marie, a main protagonist character that falls in love with Ruben. * Katelijne Verbeke plays Catherine Rietlander, Ruben's mother. *

plays Dr. Victor Verbeecke. * Annemieke Bakker plays Romy.

Production

Production started in december in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and Bulgary, and the script was written by Tamar van den Dop who also directed the movie. Other companies and people involved in production of this movie include: Cinenumerique - sound re-recording, Film Finances - completion guarantor, Herrie - unit publicity, Kemna Casting - casting, Warnier Studio Amsterdam - dolby mastering, sound post-production, Valkieser Capital Images - special effects.

Reception

''Blind'' was screened at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

and was received positively. Film critics who reviewed other films which had featured on Toronto International Film Festival gave it positive scores. As Radheyan Simonpillai, a film critic from web based version of

Now magazine ''Now'' (styled as ''NOW''), also known as ''NOW Magazine'' is an online publication based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Through most of its existence, ''Now'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper. Physical publication of ''Now'' was suspended ...

, noted that a scene "where two hands fondle through a milky white veil is about as sensual as they come". Another critic David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews gave it 3 stars out of 4.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blind (Film) 2000s Belgian films 2000s Dutch-language films 2007 films 2007 romantic drama films Albinism in popular culture Belgian romantic drama films Dutch romantic drama films Films about blind people Films scored by Tom Holkenborg Films shot in Antwerp Films shot in Bulgaria Films shot in the Netherlands Buena Vista International films