Blinded

Peter Mullan is fast becoming the saving grace of Scottish cinema; his mere presence in a film lends some interest and gravitas to even the most pedestrian of work. Take this small, mildly interesting rural Scottish thriller from first-time director Eleanor Yule; it would be fine without Mullan’s gruff voice and weathered face, but you can’t help but sigh a little when his character, a blind and grumpy farmer called Francis, falls headfirst into a pit of quicksand about a third of the way through.The isolated misery of Francis’ farm is punctuated by Viking-like Mike (Anders W Berthelsen), a Danish backpacker  who turns up looking for work. He finds a vision of hell: Francis is moody and aggressive; his young wife Rachel (Jodhi May) is downtrodden; and Francis’ well-meaning elderly mother seems only to linger and serve soup. Still, Mike moves in and gets to work. Inevitably, an affair brews between Mike and Rachel, Francis broods, and a row ends up with the farmer dead.  Is it an accident? Or is it murder? From here on, ‘Blinded’ becomes less a tale of sexual frustration and more a murder mystery with requisite twists and turns. Ultimately, it’s hard to shake the feeling that this would be better suited to the small screen.