Imagine

Production and year: France, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom 2012 Genre: Drama Director and screenplay: Andrzej Jakimowski Music: Tomasz Gąssowski Cinematography: Adam Bajerski Cast: Edward Hogg, Alexandra Maria Lara Medical theme: blindness Description: Clapping. Does that mean anything to you? As the film’s main character, Ian, says: for a blind person to move freely around the city, all it takes is a good pair of high-heeled shoes or snapping one’s fingers. He claims that walking with a cane stigmatizes people, and those who use it also have accidents. The film tells the story of an unusual (and, incidentally, real) method of navigation used by blind people that relies on echolocation and the analysis of sounds produced by the environment. Repetitive sounds, such as smacking one’s lips (i.e., clapping) or tapping, reach the sender’s ear after reflecting off encountered objects and can create a mental image of the immediate surroundings in the blind person’s mind. With sufficient experience (as in the case of a bat) and the additional analysis of characteristic sounds (hisses, whirs, buzzes, taps, clinks, and a whole range of other onomatopoeic sounds), a blind person can move about quite efficiently. The story takes place at a prestigious center for blind youth in Lisbon (a major strength of the film), where the main character—the charismatic and controversial Ian—arrives on a mission. He is to teach the students independence in a world they will never see, which they fear, but which they can hear. His methods evoke extreme reactions: opposition from the center’s director and fascination from the beautiful Eva, who dreams of exploring the world. The film is beautiful and compelling; I highly recommend it.