The heavy-handed allegory Blindness suggests that society teeters on the edge of chaos, and that not much is required to shove us into anarchy and lawlessness. In the case of this inexplicably tedious film, based on the bestselling novel by José Saramago, the event is a sudden, unexplained epidemic of vision loss that affects the population of an unnamed city.

The unnamed bit is key, because we're dealing in allegory, which is part (though not all) of the problem with the film, which tries to make its already beaten-to-death point without ever giving us a reason to care about what happens. And some seriously dreadful events occur. The blind, who see only a milky white glaze, are quickly rounded up and shuttled off to a filthy, abandoned hospital. They're guarded by sadistic military men and more or less left to fend for themselves, and cleanliness and order quickly deteriorate. In their midst is a doctor's wife (Julianne Moore), who can still mysteriously see but doesn't want to leave her foundering husband (Mark Ruffalo).

Blindness touches briefly on the couple's life before the epidemic but never bothers to introduce the rest of its afflicted characters before thrusting them into darkness. They're pawns standing in for humankind, victims or predators, identified not by name but by taglines. Old guy with an eye patch (Danny Glover). Hooker with a heart of gold (Alice Braga). Bad guy with a gun (Gael Garcia Bernal), who takes over the food supply and forces the rest of the inmates to fork over their valuables to eat. When he's collected all the watches and rings, he demands the women. The ensuing mass rape scene should be far more horrifying than it actually is. One must ask, in the name of logic: If a desperate Julianne Moore keeps eyeing a useful pair of scissors found in the prostitute's purse, wouldn't she use them before the worst occurred?

Brazilian Fernando Meirelles (City of God, City of Men) directed a dazzling version of John le Carre's The Constant Gardener, and he uses every cinematic trick in the book to keep the film visually interesting despite its claustrophobic setting. But he works the ''people have no insight into their shallow lives'' metaphor too hard. His film aims to be a cousin of Alfonso Cuarón's harrowing Children of Men, which also played out an apocalyptic scenario but with style and a more cinematic plotline and a central hero with whom the audience could relate. For all its pretension and artiness, Blindness is more like M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening (which at least had the decency to be fast-paced and short), right down to its upbeat and inane conclusion.

Cast: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Danny Glover, Gael Garcia Bernal

Director: Fernando Meirelles

Screenwriter: Don McKellar. Based on the novel by José Saramago.

Producers: Andrea Barata Ribeiro, Niv Fichman, Sonoko Sakai

A Miramax release. Running time: 120 minutes. Violence, including sexual assaults, language, sexuality, nudity. Playing at area theaters.

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