Fernando Meirelles is rounding out the cast for his adaptation of Jose Saramago’s acclaimed novel Blindness, and, while the material is extraordinarily weighty for a (partly) studio-financed production, this doesn’t mean the director of The Constant Gardener and City of God is excluded from hiring a couple of good loookin’ youngsters to sell this downbeat tale of societal collapse to the kids. And if Gael Garcia Bernal and Alice Braga don’t get your lower depths a-stirrin’, then you, sir, are blind smelly.
Danny Glover, who is no one’s idea of sexy, has also joined the cast as the narrator. As you surely know by now unless you’re a complete asshole, Blindness is a smartypants piece of science fiction about a white blindness epidemic sweeping through an unnamed European town. Since Meirelles will be shooting the film in Sao Paulo and Toronto, it’s safe to assume that he has transplanted the story to either South America or Canada. I know this because Sao Paulo is in Brazil (i.e. South America) and Toronto is in Ontario (i.e. Canada). What’s strange is that these two cities have very little in common; one gets very hot and the other gets very cold. Also, they speak different languages in these places. I’m scared.
Shooting for this Focus Features International is scheduled to begin this July in Sao Paulo. Or Toronto. This is not right.