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Movies / On DVD / Land of the Blind
Land of the Blind

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Land of the Blind (2006)

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Reviews Counted:18

Fresh:3

Rotten:15

Average Rating:4.1/10

Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: There's no shortage of trenchant political satire in this film starring Ralph Fiennes and Donald Sutherland, written and directed by Robert Edwards. The story is set in an alternate reality amalgam... There's no shortage of trenchant political satire in this film starring Ralph Fiennes and Donald Sutherland, written and directed by Robert Edwards. The story is set in an alternate reality amalgam of Great Britain and the U.S.A., where film and TV celebrities run the government and Max (Tom Hollander), the leader of the "free" world, is a sado-masochistic freak who spends the nation's money on gaudy action movies. Outside the palace walls, the nation is being overrun by violent rebels while their idealistic leader, Thorne (Sutherland), resides in jail, quoting William Butler Yeats and being regularly tortured. Fiennes plays Joe, a sympathetic prison guard who gradually adopts Thorne's views and joins a plot to assassinate Max. But then when the revolution succeeds, Joe finds a whole new nightmare awaiting him. Edwards plunders the history books for this jet black allegory, with references everything from Mussolini's Italy, Stalin's Russia, and Cambodia's Khymer Rouge all the way up to President Bush, and North Korea's Kim Jong III. In its cockeyed way the film resembles a more violent and disturbing version of the Marx Brothers' DUCK SOUP crossed with Terry Gilliam's BRAZIL. There are costumes from all different historical periods, hyper-gaudy architecture, semiotic brainwashing reminiscent of Orwell's 1984 and some extraneous bathroom humor. Tom Hollander steals most of his scenes as the Caligula-esque Max; Lara Flynn Boyle is also in fine scenery chewing form as his Imelda Marcos meets Evita Peron-style wife. [More]

Starring: Tom Hollander, Ralph Fiennes, Donald Sutherland, Lara Flynn Boyle

Starring: Tom Hollander, Ralph Fiennes, Donald Sutherland, Lara Flynn Boyle, Mackenzie Crook, Laura Fraser

Director: Robert Edwards, Jon Avnet

Director: Robert Edwards, Jon Avnet
Producer: Alan Latham, Cerise Hallam, Stanley Roup, Philippe Martinez

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Land of the Blind

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1 - 18 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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one of the most politically essential films of the year, almost as significant as Terry Gilliam's masterpiece Brazil.

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment Comment
08/23/06
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

The only matter that interests is the question of Fiennes's presence in this political lesson for children.

Full Review Source: New Republic | comment 1 Comment
07/10/06
Stanley Kauffmann
Stanley Kauffmann
New Republic

About as subtle as its all too obvious title would suggest.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
07/06/06
Frank Scheck
Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An indelible portrait of the contradictions of power.

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
06/28/06
Calvin Wilson
Calvin Wilson
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Writer-director Robert Edwards frantically throws in references to Orwell (Animal Farm and 1984), Lady Macbeth, Yeats, Mao, etc.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
06/16/06
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post

Strident, bombastic parable.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
06/16/06
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A sour satirical cocktail blended with ingredients oft-used in the recipes of Terry Gilliam and Paul Verhoeven.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
06/15/06
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Slant Magazine

Robert Edward's satirical allegory shamelessly borrows ideas from Orwell's 1984, then tramples them into the dust.

comment Comment
06/15/06
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If satire is the thing that closes on Saturday night, then political satire is usually doomed to close one night earlier. In the case of a pretentious monstrosity called Land of the Blind, it’s a miracle it ever opened at all.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
06/14/06
Rex Reed
Rex Reed
New York Observer

There's nothing particularly revolutionary about writer-director Robert Edwards' grimly satiric political fable.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
06/14/06
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly

Wrongheaded and bizarrely outrageous.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
06/13/06
Michael Atkinson
Michael Atkinson
Village Voice

Political satire is so rare that it's a shame to watch the reliable Ralph Fiennes and Donald Sutherland lend their talents to one that is blind to its own incompetence.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
06/12/06
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone

The Who did it better in We Won't Get Fooled Again

Full Review Source: Greenwich Village Gazette | comment Comment
06/09/06
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette

The movie leaves you with lots of questions, mainly, what are Ralph Fiennes and Donald Sutherland doing here? Imagine Ed Wood attempting Brazil or Uwe Boll remaking V For Vendetta.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
06/09/06
Lisa Rose
Lisa Rose
Newark Star-Ledger

Is this what we have stooped to for leftist political films? Robert Edwards' film for one reason or another really thinks it's saying something.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
06/08/06
Chris Cabin
Chris Cabin
Filmcritic.com

One of the more spectacular misfires of recent years, Land of the Blind's lack of originality is only slightly exceeded by its failure to work as political satire.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
06/05/06
Jay Weissberg
Jay Weissberg
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A labored pastiche of familiar dystopian motifs that beats the same, totalitarian-themed drum over and over again.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
05/12/06
Timothy Knight
Timothy Knight
Reel.com

Ralph Fiennes and Donald Sutherland as terrorist co-operatives? This is not a joke nor Hollywood's remake of Paradise now, but the biggest sales point of the Land of the Blind.

Full Review Source: european-films.net | comment Comment
04/19/06
Boyd van Hoeij
Boyd van Hoeij
european-films.net
 
 
1 - 18 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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