Notes on Blindness

At the age of 13, John Hull develops cataracts. Operations follow, but don’t have any effect. Thirty years later – Hull is now Professor of Theology, happily married to Claire and father of two small children – the last ray of light disappears and he is completely blind. Even though he had seen it coming for a long time, it hits him hard. To keep his head above water, Hull starts an audio diary. The 16 hours of spoken text he dictates over a period of three years is later adapted to a book and forms the basis for Notes on Blindness.
This film meanders in the terrain vague between documentary and fiction. We hear the voices of Hull and his wife, but we see actors. It’s a kind of visual dubbing. That ambiguity meshes well with Hull’s reflections on the role of sight in memories and the forming of identity. That is intellectually interesting, but also offers a glimpse inside Hull’s mind. He starts out desperate, wrestling, but finally embraces his fate.

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