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List Price: $19.99 | | Label: Bauer
Salesrank: 51029
Released: August 15, 2006 |
| Our Price: $3.49 |
| Used Price: $0.48 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
A satirical and timely war thriller about terrorism, revolution, and the power of memory. In an unnamed place and time, an idealistic soldier named Joe (Ralph Fiennes) strikes up an illicit friendship with a political prisoner named Thorne (Donald Sutherland), who eventually recruits him into a bloody coup d'etat. But in the post-revolutionary world, what Thorne asks of Joe leads the two men into bitter conflict, spiraling downward into madness until Joe's co-conspirators conclude that they must erase him from history.
Land of the Blind Reviews:
For those interested in Dystopia and Revolutionary Politics themes... 
2009-11-08 - If you were a fan of Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" then you will most likely enjoy this movie. There are many great historical references, so a basic understanding of various revolutions like the French Revolution, the Irish Troubles, WWII Germany & Russia, South Africa's apartheid, etc, will definitely help the viewer get the most out of this film.
The Infinite Sadness of the Truly Free
2009-02-18 - What is freedom? What is happiness and where do we find ourselves if we're pursuing them too enthusiastically? Pol Pot's Cambodia, Lenin's Russia, Khomeini's Iran, Castro's Cuba, Kim's North Korea, Hitler's Germany, Robespierre's France, Ceausescu's Romania... early 3d Millennium America? And then, there's 'the day(s) after'. What do we do after we defeat and punish our tormentors, once the victory is ours and our power seems to be absolute. We find more enemies, what else. And we work hard at it. And we keep going until it's our turn to the guillotine or to the labor camps.
This is not an easy to watch movie because it's not an us vs. them pattern (us good, them bad) but rather 'us' and 'them' taking turns to be the baddies, an exercise in self-destruction and perpetual humiliation. Just to make sure that we get the message, it all starts with 'them' in power, then one of 'them' replaces another, then 'us' manage to overthrow 'them', then 'us' turn against ourselves and become worse then 'them', then 'they' come back.
On that background, that who was the tool of the oppressor (Hollander) turns into a tool of the liberator (Sutherland) who, in turn, becomes oppressor but he (Fiennes) will never be a tool again as he accepts his fate of the forever prisoner. There's nothing original about this. Thoreau noted that "under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison ... the only house in a slave State in which a free man can abide with honor." And Fiennes, playing 'Joe the good soldier' keeps his honor intact and keeps himself in jail.
Like I said, this is not an easy movie to watch. Black and white, shocking archive scenes - Edison electrocuting an elephant - are blended with with images of torture or kitsch luxury and grotesque orgies. We, who never came close to a Pol Pot-induced nightmare are likely to look the other way when unwashed prisoners, using their own feces to write slogans on their jail's walls, pop up on the screen. Like those legendary frogs, we still feel comfortable while the gradually warmer water is slowly cooking us into a delicious, nutritious, totalitarian soup. It can never happen here we think as we try to make ourselves watch for a while longer. Only that it can because this IS our human nature, to do whatever it takes to dominate and humiliate our fellow humans, to show them who is in charge and to make them accept us as the ones in charge. And we never seem to learn.
I don't know if I'm going to watch this movie again soon but I am glad that I did watch it once. Watching it is not entertainment and it can be painful but it can be good medicine too, providing some temporary relief to some diseases that come with our human nature. 'Memento mori' - remember that you will die - the victorious Roman warriors were reminded at the moment of their triumph. That, and, remember that you are probably played like a pawn in some more or less subtle domination game.
Robert Edwards, writer and director, Sutherland, Fiennes, everyone who was part of this project deserves praise, respect and appreciation for their courage, their understanding and their hard work. I don't believe anyone got rich out of this effort but everyone should feel good about themselves for doing what had to be done and making a statement that had to be made.
Small 3d world dictatorship movie classic. 
2009-02-13 - This movie needs to be watched from beginning to end to get the whole story. But, it is worth it. Interesting music too.
"In the Land of the Blind, the one-eyed man is King"-Desiderius Erasmus
2009-02-03 - This is the story of every nation ruled by a dictator, where the people dream of a better life and support a revolution but the old dictator is overthrown and replaced by a greater villainous scourge. There are countless examples of citizens' disappointment when they discover that the devil that is now in charge is worse than the devil they had before. After all, Man's greatest achievement is his unlimited capacity for self deception.
Maximilian II is an absoulte dictator in a land named "Everycountry", who declares himself "president for life".Joe, played by Ralph Fiennes, is a security guard working at the prison where Thorne (Sutherland), a carismatic intellectual rebel is treated savagly. Joe feels in his heart that Throne is a good man and learns a lot about him while bonding with him. When Maximilian seeks popular support, he releases Throne from jail, to serve as a government member. Joe is promoted to serve as a guard at Maximilian's palace. Because Joe trust Thorne he allows Thorne and his followers into Maximilian's inner chambers, where Thorne kills Maximilian and his wife.
Joe watches in terror as Thorne, whom he had idolized, transforms into a villain, who rules "Everycountry" with absolute totalitarianism, Education is prohibited, women are covered with burqas and thinkers are sent to re-education camps. When Joe realizes he has been deceived, he refuses to work for the new government and he is sent to a re-education camp where he is treated far worse than Thorne had been treated in prison.
As much as I love Sutherland, he was so convincing that I deeply hated the character. Finnes is magnificent as always, watching him listen to the re-education Camp Director Saying : "A stale piece of bread is better than nothing. And nothing is better than a big juicy steak. Therefore a stale piece of bread is better than a big juicy steak" brings back many images of struggling deceived nations.
Pointless and Tasteless 
2009-01-01 - I don't know how distinguished actors like Feines and Sutherland can let themselves be degraded by performing in such a piece of trash. The writer and director have a truly sick bathroom obsession. Skip this one.
