Eskil Vogt's startling and original new film takes us far and fiercely into the mind of the BLIND

What an unusual -- and unusually intelligent and psychologically astute -- movie is BLIND, the first full-length film to be directed by Eskil Vogt, the fellow who earlier co-wrote two other highly-regarded Norwegian films, Reprise and Oslo, August 31. Most films about the blind use this handicap for purposes of thrilling us (Wait Until Dark), plucking our heartstrings (At First Sight) or, more lately, showing us how the loss of one valuable sense only leads to the heightening of all the others (Netflix's brilliant new comic book-based series, Daredevil).

What interests Mr. Vogt, shown at left, is something else entirely: the state -- mental, physical, sexual, spiritual -- of being blind and what this can do to the suddenly no-longer sighted. That's a big order. What makes Blind even more impressive is how quietly and intelligently the filmmaker manages this. He allows his heroine, Ingrid, (Ellen Dorrit Petersen, shown below) to narrate, bringing us into her life in her own quiet manner, and we're of course with her all the way. Poor girl.

The key, she tells us, lies is in remembering things correctly. Such as the dog -- a German Shepherd -- or a department store. And so she remembers both. But wait: What is the dog doing inside the department store? Oh, yes -- and the poor girl's husband: addicted to porn web sites and voyeurism! The first fifteen minutes of the film, in fact, are practically a voyeur's delight. What with all the porn we see, and that sleaze of a hubby.

And then there's the neighbor (Vera Vitali, above) -- a divorced mom with a young son to care for. Wait a minute: I'm wrong. She has a daughter. And about that husband: there are actually two of them, one portrayed by that excellent actor, Henrick Rafaelsen (of The Almost Man), below, left, and the other by Marius Kolbenstvedt, below right, and also first-rate. There is so much going on here, but Mr. Vogt juggles it all quite snazzily, with superb visual flair underpinned by psychological realism and performances that make the bizarre seem almost credible.

Fantasies abound -- of being watched, of being highly sexual, of being another person entirely -- and the movie offers a surprising amount of humor, too. (Does that device for sorting laundry when you're blind actually exist? If not, someone should invent it!) And because the characters here are cultured and au courant, there are references aplenty for us to latch onto (the director's cut of Mask figures in rather prominently).

Oddly, as the movie grows weirder and crazier, it also becomes clearer what is going on. This juxtaposition works with surprising brilliance, finally offering up a film that is about as original a look at the world of one very particular blind person as you are likely to encounter.

From KimStim and Fandor, Blind opens this Friday, September 4, in New York City (at the IFC Center) and next Friday, September 11, in Los Angeles (at the Cinefamily), simultaneous with its debut on Fandor.
However you choose to see it, do. 

Michael Barnett's new documentary SUPERHEROES world-premieres on HBO

"Having superpowers does not necessarily make you a superhero," notes one of the self-titled breed featured in this bizarre (in so many ways) new documentary that premieres Monday night, August 8, on HBO. "Having super-motivation and doing super deeds: I think that's what makes you a superhero." To TrustMovies' mind, that word "necessarily" in  the above sentence rather immediately places this speaker into the mode of comic-book reality. So, then, some people do possess superpowers?  Say, Superman, Santa Claus, God and Rupert Murdoch? (Well, until the latter's staff began its "breaking-and-entering" phase.)

In SUPERHEROES, the new, yes, documentary(!) directed by first-time filmmaker Michael Barnett (shown below) and produced by Theodore James, we meet a bunch of would-be superheroes who dress in costume (that often disguises the face) and set about making our world a better place. But do they? That's up for grabs. The initial demonstration of this is exhibited via the speaker's words accompanied by animated frames that tell the story of how he protected a woman undergoing a terrible beating. I'll buy that. Or maybe not. The movie-makers do damn little investigation of whether or not anything their assembled "cast" says is verifiable.

Accompanying these people on their rounds produces no real confrontations, so we're left to listen to them ramble on, interrupted by a few other talking heads.  One is that of a policewoman, Lt. Brown, who expounds on how vigilante justice is problematic (good-ness knows, we've had movies telling us the same thing for years now). Then some kind of psychologist takes the other route, explaining and perhaps trying to justify these would-be mother's (and daddy's) helpers. The two viewpoints cancel each other out.

Which seems appropriate, as much of this movie appears to cancel itself out. So many of the folk whom we meet in this odd film -- Xtreme Justice League (and Mr. Xtreme, shown below); Zimmer, Lucid, Z and T.S.A.F. (the "T" is silent), from what they call The New York Initiative; Master Legend (who in one nutty moment, tells a paraplegic that he (Master Legend) has a pipeline to god: "He always listen to me!"); Zetaman; Dark Guardian; Thanatos (shown at bottom, from Canada!) and, as a corrective, I guess, Life (who services Manhattan's homeless) -- seem to have but a nodding acquaintance with what many of us would call reality.

Zimmer, quite waif-like for a superhero, wants to corral the bad guys who prey upon gays, but his modus operandi smacks, as the Lieutenant points out, of entrapment. "Never drink to drunkenness," Master Legend tells us as he downs a beer, though it looks he's halfway there already. Mr Xtreme -- overweight, with parents who make fun of him, no social life and few of the skills one would imagine a superhero needs (we see him in a fighting match, which he loses) -- seems simply sad.

Throughout this documentary, there's a queasy sense of mixing up life and fantasy, reality and dreams. And this is apparent not just in the cast of "superheroes" but within the film-making team itself. Its organization is all over the place, to the extent that we're not sure just what the aim is: to explain, help, hinder or make fun. It may be true, as a couple of the heroes point out, that "society just isn't working anymore," but will a costume and good intentions make it all better?

Well, among these heroes is one who manages a Toys-for-Kids project, while another provides the homeless with deodorant and toiletries. That's a plus. Finally, they all meet at -- yes -- Comic-Con in San Diego, which perhaps is where they really belong. As unsure as I am about the usefulness of these superheroes, I am equally flummoxed by the point of this documentary. However, if a bunch of rabid, tea-party Republicans can bring our nation to the point of breakdown over a phony debt crisis that no one really believes in (or why was the debt ceiling raised without quibble a dozen times under George W. Bush -- who spent three times what our current and rotten-to-the-core President has spent?), then I suppose it is perfectly OK to look to superheroes (or people who somehow think they are superheroes) to solve our problems. Holy shit -- it just hit me: This may be the perfect documentary for our end-of-times!

You can see Superheroes on HBO, starting Monday evening August 8 at 9 (Eastern and Pacific time). Check your local HBO schedule for further showings (click on the link, go to the bottom of the screen, at right, and click on Schedule). Eventually, I expect, there's be streaming and/or DVDs.