This documentary about the Alabama School for the Blind—part of a 1986 tetralogy of films about young people with physical disabilities—is not just Frederick Wiseman’s warmest movie but one of the most heartening depictions of education in cinema. For most of the first hour Wiseman concentrates on the school’s kindergarten class, where several young students take their literal first steps towards navigating life on their own. Shooting in remarkable proximity to the children, Wiseman conveys their astonishment at gaining newfound awareness of the world at large. The epiphanic wonder of these scenes carries over to the remainder of the film, as Wiseman shifts his focus to administrators and older students, most of whom come off as heroically patient in how they respond to challenges of work and school.
Blind
2 hours 13 min • 1986
