Blind (18)

Norwegian with subtitles

IMAGINE losing your sight.

All of a sudden your understanding and your perception of your surroundings is all in your head – and that version becomes less reliable as memory fades.

Even those diminishing images will go in time as your optic nerves wither without stimulation.

This is Ingrid's world, a former teacher who is now confined – by choice – to her apartment because she has lost the confidence to go outside.

Her relationship with her husband is tested and the pair have given up on plans to start a family.

Ingrid's only escape is her imagination where she begins to create a world to replace the one she has lost.

Sometimes she imagines her husband is still in the room after he has left for work. Other times she thinks he is cheating on her but in her head Elin, the woman he is meeting, is really a projection of herself.

In her mind she also creates Einar, a loner who becomes infatuated with Elin.

Eskil Vogt's debut film about the fears and desires of someone coming to terms with being blind is as touching as it is inventive.

Camera tricks show the difference between Ingrid's perception and reality which make you think about what it would be like to be in her position.

And clever flourishes show when you are in the world of Ingrid's imagination.

So for instance a young boy in the story changes into a young girl at her whim, a coffee shop meeting turns into a tram ride and when Ingrid is feeling sleepy her characters do too.

It's bizarre but it really fits the tone of the story which at times is provocative and not for the easily offended.

For a film about blindness it is really eye-opening.