Catriona Paul at the Movies.

WHO IS Scotland’s greatest actor? Sean Connery? Ewan MacGregor? For my money, Peter Mullen, actor and gifted director, is certainly the most interesting. Recently picking up Best Director and Best British Film at the London Film Critic Awards for The Magdalene Sisters, Blinded sees him back in front of the camera, at his scary best.

In this gothic, highly charged thriller, Mullen plays Francis Black – a Scottish farmer blinded in a freak accident by his young wife, Rachel. Francis is understandably bitter and his wife gets the worst of it. She does her best to avoid him but rustling around in huge skirts from another century doesn’t help her chances. Enter Mike, a Danish backpacker who turns up at the falling-down farm looking for work. Pretty soon, Rachel and Mike can’t contain their attraction and the one big question is, who will end up in the bottomless mud hole at the end of the track?

In Blinded, the performances of Mullen and May shine. He is loathsome and controlling, perfecting cruel in gravely tones that have the audience quivering. She is running scared in a role reminiscent of her part as the younger sister in Last of the Mohicans. The film looks good and sounds great – no small achievement on a tiny budget. But too much is unbelievable – namely, why does anyone stay on this hell hole of a farm, what makes Mike such a catch, and why is she wearing such big skirts?

Writer and director, Eleanor Yule has certainly put in the twists and tried to create interesting characters. But therein lies the problem, at least one character has to be approaching normal for the film to be credible. Suspense is hard to conjure and the magic just ain’t quite right on this pic.

BLINDED
future release, dates and venues to be announced

Director: Eleanor Yule
Writer: Eleanor Yule
Stars: Peter Mullen, Jodhi May, Anders W. Berthelsen, Phyllida Law, Samantha Bond
Certificate: to be confirmed
Running Time: 90 minutes
Country: Scotland
Year: 2004

© Catriona Paul, 2004