All the Light We Cannot See–Love is Blind

All the Light We Cannot See opens with a devoted, widowed father, Daniel LeBlanc (Mark Ruffalo),  teaching his young blind daughter, Marie (Aria Mia Loberti),  the intricacies of artifacts in the museum where he works as a locksmith.  Based upon the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Anthony Doerr, this four-part Netflix mini-series (released on November 2)  takes the viewer on an emotionally intense journey through Nazi-occupied France.  

While teaching his daughter living skills to maneuver in a war-torn country–Marie’s father, Daniel,  builds a miniature replica of Paris and then of Saint-Malo, so the blind  Marie can escape from danger if necessary.  Soon Marie’s father, Daniel, is hunted down by the Nazi commander, Reinhold von Rumpel (Lars Eidinger), for the  suspected theft of a rare diamond, named Sea of Flames.  The purported power of the diamond is to cure the incurable but also to curse the loved ones of the holder of the gem.  Daniel escapes Paris  with his young daughter, fleeing to his uncle Etienne (Hugh Laurie), in the small town of Saint-Malo, for the safety of his daughter.  But the Battle of Saint-Malo is imminent.

Soon a young Nazi radio technician, Werner Pfennig (Louis Hofmann), is ordered to track down Maria and her father in order to capture the Sea of Flames and in the process, murder Marie and Daniel. Werner has had a troubled past as a young genius whose proficiency for solving radio transmission technical issues, is treasured by Nazi surveillance.  Although treated as a communication wizard by the Nazi regime, Werner resists cooperating and collaborating with his commanders.

 All the performances are outstanding, although the pacing and script are frequently lackluster in dialog and in backstory clarity. One actor who dominated every scene he is in –Lars Eidinger–is to be applauded for subtly transforming what could be the overdone caricature of the Nazi for the desperate character he perniciously embodies.  His performance is  unforgettable. 

All the Light We Cannot See is primarily a tale of father-daughter love, survival, and the costs of war. War destroys those who must choose between family survival and their own moral values. The book-to-screen adaptation has a number of flaws, but for the most part, is a respectable tribute to the award-winning novel.

Availability:  Netflix