VENICE 2021: The Blind Man Who Did Not Want To See Titanic
VENICEJaakko is a massive cinephile. Some of his favourite films are Aliens, Terminator 2, and everything John Carpenter made pre-90s. He also has a girlfriend, Sirpa, with whom he talks daily. One major difference between the two of them is that she loves James Cameron’s Titanic, while Jaakko refuses to watch it. However, Jaakko is also blind and wheelchair-bound because of multiple sclerosis, while Sirpa is slowly dying from cancer, and they can only call each other. Before it is too late, Jaakko decides to go to her, all alone, so that they can be together and enjoy watching Titanic.
Cinema is an art form that is easy to get invested in – that can move, change, and inspire people, showing different perspectives that can be hard to empathise with. The Blind Man Who Did Not Want To See Titanic is as excellent a statement in favour of the cinematic form as they come. While a work of fiction, lead actor Petri Poikolainen is actually suffering from MS and its side effects. He ended up collaborating with writer-director Teemu Nikki to deliver an accurate portrayal of his life. This may sound rather dour and depressing on paper, but in actuality, the film is incredibly heartfelt and even quite humorous at times, as Jaakko goes through his daily routine with a smile on his face, making wisecracks and cheeky references to classic cinema.
With so many films that try to portray different types of disabilities, this one works precisely because of how it is shot and framed. Rather than taking an objective, third-person perspective, the film is witnessed entirely from the point of view of Jaakko: nearly every shot is focusing on tight details of Poikolainen’s eyes, hands, and mouth – the background becoming unrecognisable due to the blurry depth of field. Not only does this work in letting audiences spend the 80-minute runtime understanding how important it is for blind people to know their environment, but it also creates a heart-pounding sense of tension in the second half once he leaves the comfort of his home to go reach Sirpa.
The sound design is booming and the camerawork can be nauseating, but it is all in service of the narrative and sense of immersion. Were The Blind Man Who Did Not Want To See Titanic filmed with wide shots, it would never reach the same levels of intensity and emotions that Sari Aaltonen’s nail-biting camerawork does. Borderline experimental in its approach to the narrative, it is hard not to fall in love with both Poikolainen’s character and performance, almost literally carrying the film on his shoulders. It is a true tour-de-force that is very much worth experiencing, as it manages to deliver laughs, thrills, and tears in a deceptively simple way. It is movies like this that manage to reignite hope in the future of cinema as the definitive empathy machine.