In 1978, painter Hugues de Montalembert was blinded when paint remover was thrown in his face by a burglar. Here, without a shred of self-pity, he relates his story of how he refused the usual forms of protection offered by friends and family, and continued to travel alone and unaided through the world. In a curious way, blindness led him to discover a profound truth about sight. As he says, ‘vision is a creation, not a perception ... people use their eyes to avoid obstacles, not to look at the world or to understand something. Most people are not really interested in looking at all.’
Composer and filmmaker Gary Tarn has created a film of intensified visual and aural beauty that approximates to what it is like to see through Montalembert's eyes. If you want an affirmative, uplifting and courageous tale that is neither sanctimonious nor saccharine, and leaves you considering your own attitude to life, and how little you really make use of all the senses you have, then this is it.
Painter Hugues de Montalembert was blinded in an attack in New York City in 1978. Without a shred of self-pity, he relates his extraordinary story of how he adapted his approach to the world after blindness, and continued living and travelling unaided through the world. As he says, 'vision is a creation ... some people use their eyes to avoid obstacles, not to look at the world or to understand something. In fact they are not really interested in looking at all.'
Composer and filmmaker Gary Tarn has created a film that approximates to what it is like to see through Montalembert's eyes. If you want an affirmative, uplifting and courageous tale that is neither sanctimonious nor saccharine, and leaves you consideriung your own attitude to life, and how little you really make use of all the senses you have, then this is it.
Marketa Lazarova
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Black Sun (Tarn, 2005)
