Land of the Blind | |
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Theatrical film poster
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Directed by | Robert Edwards |
Produced by |
Philippe Martinez Jon Avnet Alan Latham Cerise Hallam Larkin Stanley Roup |
Written by | Robert Edwards |
Starring |
Donald Sutherland Ralph Fiennes Tom Hollander Marc Warren Lara Flynn Boyle |
Music by |
Guy Farley Doug Edwards |
Cinematography | Emmanuel Kadosh |
Edited by | Ferne Pearlstein |
Production
company |
Avnet-Kerner Productions
Bauer Martinez Studios Brooklyn Films Defender Film Fund II Defender Production Lucky 7 Productions LLC Studio Eight Productions Templar Films |
Distributed by | Bauer Martinez Entertainment |
Release date
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Running time
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101 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $18 million (est) |
Box office | $15,180 (Worldwide) |
Land of the Blind is a 2006 British-American black comedy drama film starring Ralph Fiennes, Donald Sutherland, Tom Hollander and Lara Flynn Boyle.
Land of the Blind is a dark political satire, based on several incidents throughout history in which tyrannical rulers were overthrown by new leaders who proved to be just as bad, if not worse, and subtle references are made to several such cases. The title is taken from the saying, "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."
Land of the Blind had its world premiere in competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and was the Opening Night Gala film at the 2006 Human Rights Watch Film Festival in London. Its U.S. premiere was in competition at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. The film sparked intense reaction during its festival run, attacked by both left and right, each of which saw the film as a critique of its position.
Historical references in the film include Jean-Paul Marat (from the French Revolution), Kim Jong-Il, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Augusto Pinochet, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, François Duvalier, Rudolph Hess, Jean-Claude Duvalier, Lyndon B. Johnson, Julius Caesar (from William Shakespeare's play), Robert Mugabe, Ngo Dinh Diem, Idi Amin, the PIRA Maze prison protests, U.S. POWs in Vietnam, the Weathermen terrorist group, the Khmer Rouge, the 1979 Revolution in Iran, and the subsequent Cultural Revolution in that country.