Chlotrudis Awards; "Blindness" comes to light

The 13th annual Chlotrudis Awards (named, as I’m sure you remember, after the two cats Chloe and Trudy)  occurred over a week ago at the Brattle Theatre, so I apologize for keeping those who’ve been anxiously waiting for the results  to find out how they did on their office pools. (Hint: Eddie Murphy still got snubbed).

Here are the winners:

BEST MOVIE

Cache

BEST DIRECTOR

Michael Haneke - Cache

BEST ACTOR

Vincent Lindon - La Moustache

BEST ACTRESS

Robin Wright Penn - Sorry, Haters

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Jackie Earle Haley -Little Children

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Carmen Maura - Volver

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE CAST

Little Miss Sunshine

BEST VISUAL DESIGN

The Science of Sleep

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Proposition

BEST DOCUMENTARY

This Film is Not Yet Rated

BURIED TREASURE (tie)

Iron Island

The Night of Truth

Buried treasure? These are all buried treasures. The combined box office for all of the them put togetherwouldn’t add up to last weekend’s share for just one Mutant Ninja Turtle (though I’m sure these trophies will turn that around). In a sense, “Cache,” i.e, “Hidden,” is an appropriate way to describe the winners and nominees as a whole.

The same holds for the winner of their Lifetime Achievement Award, Don McKellar. Huh? That’s what happens when you’re Canadian, nobody knows who you are. McKellar is a fine actor ("Exotica"), a sometimes brilliant screenwriter (“Thirty-two Short Films About Glenn Gould”) and an ambitious yet unfulfilled director (“Last Night”).

That may change with his next project. Back in 1999 I interviewed him for “Last Night” and he said he was working on an adaptation of “Blindness,” a book by José Saramago. Who? I asked. You know, he said, the winner of the Nobel Prize last year. If it was an Oscar, I assured him, I would have known. He recommended I read the book, and I did, finding it an austere, chilling  allegory about a plague of blindness and how the victims cope. Good luck getting it made, I thought, even with the Nobel Prize.

Years passed. The other day I noticed  an article in "The Hollywood Reporter" stating that  McKellar's adaptation of "Blindness" will soon be made. Fernando Meirelles (“The Constant Gardener”)will direct a cast that includes new 007 Daniel Craig, Julianne Moore and, of course, McKellar.

Which just goes to show you the power of a Chlotrudis Award.