Notes on Blindness

This is a semi-dramatized documentary focusing on retelling the audio memoirs of a man going blind. If that sounds slightly unusual, it's because it is. The cast lip sync the actual recorded words spoken by John Hull and his wife who detailed his descent into the debilitating world of visual impairment in the 1980s.

The memoirs capture the pure physical and psychological turmoil experienced by John as he experiences this loss of vision, and as he says he battles to live in reality instead of this nostalgic world that his brain is forcing upon him. The dreams he experiences and the way he describes them are beautiful bittersweet torture - as it is his only way of conjuring new images into his world, yet he wakes every morning crestfallen, as he remembers he cannot see, and they were just dreams. One night he dreams he can see his new child that was born after he lost his sight. The way this scene is directed (by Peter Middleton & James Spinney) is as magical as it is emotive.

John expresses to us that he believes part of his brain is dying as a portion of it no longer requires power to process images. He says he feels hungry for stimulation that he just cannot obtain. He also forgets what his wife looks like, which must be pure agony. The frustration of being rendered effectively useless as a parent also weighs heavily on his mind, and some points on the audio tapes you can almost feel the depression that John must be battling.

Dan Renton Skinner does an unbelievable job as the taunted John Hull. His facial expressions transport us into this hell that John must have been in and his performance is one of the most captivating of any portraying an illness / disability that I can remember.

I couldn't wait to splash down a few words about this film in the hope that just 1 or 2 people watch it as a result. That has to be a sign that of its' quality.

Beautiful agony

This is such an amazing piece of work; put in the shoes of someone who loses his sight, halfway through his lifetime, which is one of my personal worst nightmares, I was in tears throughout most of this film. Sight is so essential to my every being, I cannot describe how awful it felt to me, to put myself in the shoes of someone losing perhaps the most important sense of all. It was absolutely devastating to be brought along this journey into nothingness with this film. And yet, as John puts it, it's still a gift bestowed upon him, just like this film is. The whole is so beautifully, atmospherically put together. The cinematography matches the subject so incredibly well, it works with how you could possibly show a person's story who can't see. For a person to overcome this disability, to make the most of it, to thrive on it, despite relying on all senses but his sight, is so amazingly inspirational. I found myself challenging myself to experience my senses, other than my sight more fully. I walked around my house with my eyes shut, I stood outside listening to the rain falling, I familiarised myself to my surroundings. No film to date has ever had this effect on me.

I love the concept behind these. Using actual tapes, editing them together in a way to present them as a narrative, and then creating the visuals to match it. The fact that it is a story about a man who no longer can see, adds to it. It's an interesting way to mix truth and fiction, because the story and dialogue is all real, and could have been presented as a documentary of sorts. But by editing them, adding the environmental sounds, and getting actors to "play it out", it blurs the line in a really interesting way. That, in addition to some of the insights into how it is to become blind, are the clear highlights of the movie. Sadly, it does not have much more to offer that's very interesting.

In a way, ironically, I think this story would work better as just the audio. The editing done was brilliant, and combine with the atmospheric sounds added, I think it could have been a really good radio story. With an added level that a story about blindness would have no visuals.

This documentary/drama has a very unique style that I haven't seen before. They used the original voice recordings of these documented people and had the actors act and lip-sync to the recordings which must've been an interesting challenge. It has very nice cinematography, soundtrack and sound design.

I was particularly interested in this documentary as I recently met 2 incredible blind musicians and was curious to learn more about blindness. However this is not really a documentary about blindness but more about how this guy personally reacts to his situation. There were some very captivating moments though.

A theology academic named John Hull goes blind due to an illness and has to learn how to adapt to his new life.

At the beginning of this film onscreen text informs you that John Hull went blind in the 80s and subsequently kept an audio diary. Those original recordings are now used in the film and the actors lip sync to them... It's a beautiful idea and instantly grabs you in this really personal and at times heartbreaking story. Ultimately though, this is expertly crafted and awe-inspiring. It's a theological study as much as a practical one, but John's resolve really leaves you wondering how you'd cope yourself, if you could be as strong. Going blind is a scary thought, but John Hull proves without doubt it need not be.