Tales Before The Dark
What was perhaps most riveting about the trailer for “The Blind King” was the fact that it was shown even before the movie premiered. Seemingly, there was a mythic dread about a grotesque figure, blind folded, that weaved through nightmares. Alongside a father and daughter mourning the loss of a mother, this blind figure also captured the shadows lurking about on the perimeter of a new home. Given this we were curious if “The Blind King” was perhaps the product of guilt, deep-seeded grief, or even a more primal being.
Based on the above observations, the film, although a haunted house story, presented in essence, more of a dig into the realm of obsession, loss, and memory.
A Family Torn Between Dream and Reality
The grief that Craig and daughter Anna feel was almost palpable by the audience and the home that this family was in felt even more hollow. Anna, a victim of trauma, ended her nightmares by drawing bizarre and uncanny images of a blind figure that wore a mask. Some of the more bizarre dreaming sequences included Anna trying to touch an altar where of all things, a rag doll was placed. What was more curious was the fact that Anna was motioning with a doll that disappeared at some point, telling a story bound of shadows and guilt.
At it’s core, the narrative of the film explores a relationship of a father and daughter where the daughter has lost touch to reality in the pursuit of refuge from the suffocating grip of grief.
Symbolism Hidden in Darkness
The Blind King is more than a beast; he personifies anguish as an absence of sight. His lack of sight is not indicative of a physical weakness, but rather an active choice to be ignorant. In some myths, the sighted “seer” is paralleled with a lack of sight; a blind “seer” is claimed to have all the knowledge. In this case, Anna’s grief blinds her to the extent of the Blind King—who sees, absorbs, and devours her grief.
Some viewers noted that, given the budgetary constraints, the Blind King was an interesting figure who sparked curiosity. Noteworthy is the quality of having her plagued by the questions; ‘What is his aim? Why Anna?’ Her reflection is a perpetual haunt long after the credits roll.
The Man Emerging from the Shadows
Aaron Stielstra, who takes on Craig, anchors the movie emotionally. His troubled gaze betrays a man who is conflicted as he attempts to shield his daughter from his personal disillusionment and despair. This character is not one that would be deemed simple; he encapsulates the downfall of fatherhood that is plagued by extrinsic forces, and he does it as his most ‘visible’ self.
The disconnect between his performance and the state of the movie is a result of his performance being realistic to a degree it breaches the technological confines of the film. Many people have been noted to say Stielstra in particular carried the most ‘burden,’ emotionally, and they were not the only ones. This is typical of ‘acting’ that is free of embellishments, a prized quality in an industry consumed by estrangements.
Meeting Untamed Dreams With The Tightest Budgets Possible
In the same way the director Raffaele Picchi sculpted the The Blind King, a mini movie that he also filmed, cheapening the cinematography, kept the lighting on, to a minimum, and shifts, and made the sets on the barest possible, he made it personal, made it close and disconnected with the viewer emotionally. He kept the sets so minimalistic that the entire movie seemed like it could pass off as a blurred picture with each scene. The audience was emotionally engaged to the story, regardless of the picture quality.
In the instance of The Blind King, Picchi kept the visual elements to the bare minimum, —-. The shots seemed like they were filmed with a high end coffee maker, The camera shake instead of CGI was absolutely brilliant. The rest of the visuals were so underwhelming that it made The Blind King stand out, and made the audience appreciate the movie that much more.
The Memories That Did Not Happen: When panic gets married to saving Time and Energy
The entire movie seemed to be filmed under a timeline and at a high pace that made the movie feel more panic driven and withing a thriller genre. The dream scenes that were so important to the storyline were filmed late into the night, when the entire cast and crew were devoid of energy The DOPs and editors who spent sleepless nights, and who were primarily blind were in the same state that the film was trying to portray: mentally freaking out and utterly exhausted. The state the crew was in could best be summed up as ‘The Blind King.
The design of The Blind King was portrayed as rugged, a blend of a latex mask and cheap makeup , driven by grief and utterly unfinished, to the rest of the movie. The Blind King in itself was described as a patchwork of emotions and felt like a movie that crude and unfinished, yet raw, grief was the driving emotion.Life Imitating Grief
Quiet tension settled around production. From real life accounts, there were no major controversies, but grief isn’t glamorous. Both Stielstra and the cast talk about filming has a high emotional stake. It was late night and the director was trying to capture that raw, nervous tension. It was cold and the set was frozen but everyone had to push through. Then the director would go and order everyone to push through capturing that raw tension shoot the…..slee
In a sense, the most powerful film symbolism is the overlap between reel and real. Where the exhaustion of the actor bleeds into the fatigue of the character, and the breakdown of creativity into forced efficiency. Grief, on screen and off, is left unscripted.
When the Shadows Stay with You
The Blind King is not a blockbuster and is unpolished but it still retains a form of cinematic haunting which is always there, lingering in the corners of the vision. It is a film where grief does not shrink, but rather, it grows in the darkness and the shadows.
The film in a way, through crudeness, finds authenticity. It also through a small budget, reveals private horror. The audience entered expecting a horror film only to be met with a cold room filled with a lingering silence and a father’s love fighting to not drown.
Its not only that the movie blinds you, but it also asks you to peer into what it means to grieve without the superimposition of a fear filled source. It is to hold yourself still in the darkness and to be steady.
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