Children of Men star Julianne Moore today said her latest apocalyptic film reflects the "tremendous amount of tragedy" in the world.

Her new film Blindness, which opened the Cannes Film Festival this evening, is based on a book by Nobel Prize-winning author Jose Saramango.

Directed by City of God film-maker Fernando Meirelles, it shows civilisation in the grip of a bewildering blindness epidemic.

Times Chief Film Critic James Christopher called the film a "sour and unexpected shock".

During a press conference, Moore was asked if she was drawn to films with an apocalyptic subject matter.

She said: "There is a tremendous amount of tragedy right now, and we are feeling anxious. I think we're reflecting what we're feeling in our own culture."

Director Meirelles said: "What attracted me was the idea of civilisation collapsing."

Danny Glover, who stars in the film and provides its voiceover, described how victims of crises were often "invisible".

Glover said that when Hurricane Katrina hit "... we were blind to who they were".

Talking about the situations in Somalia, Iraq and Darfur, he said: "These people are for the most part invisible to us."

Moore added: "I was very, very excited working in this international production.

"There were only three Americans in the cast which was so great.

"We are living in an increasingly global world and it was nice to participate in a film that reflected that."

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