Director: Robert Eggers
Screenwriters: R. Eggers & Max Eggers
Cast: Willem Dafoe, Robert Pattinson, Valeriia Karaman, Logan Hawkes
‘The Lighthouse’
is a thought-provoking discovery of unparalleled madness — isolation, egos, and an inexplicable force that inhabits a lighthouse keeper’s island. Robert Eggers created this surrealist exploration riddled with naval urban legends, references to Greek gods, and Willem Dafoe who plays a maniacal grizzled, ex-seafarer who spouts dirges drunkenly while dishing out verbal punishment to his subordinate (Robert Pattinson). Both men seem to be gradually falling under the supernatural spell of the lighthouse’s unknown power.
Symbolism is abundant in this film; which is one of the things that attracted me to it. The visual grammar is also excellent, telling a hefty amount of the story through the meticulously designed shot sequences. The framing is one of my favourite parts – Robert Eggers managed to make something that spooks the shit out of you from the on-screen compositions alone. The fact that the choice was made to film the entirety of ‘The Lighthouse’ in black & white magnifies the macabre look and feel.
The opening of the film begins with the ferry arriving at the island; two men are clothed in uniforms, rain-soaked, riding aboard the ship that braves the dark storm falling and crashing around it.
A dreary and menacing score accompanies the imagery; creating an overpowering malaise for the viewer.
In the next establishing shot, Pattinson & Dafoe are framed staring straight at the camera before entering the secluded lighthouse; forlorn and soul-crushing looks that both men provide for a prolonged shot, held, helps the picture to assume the shape of an eerie portrait out of an old ghost story: this promises dread and foreboding right up front. In addition, an observant watcher of independent film can intuit (or consciously conceive) the central focus of ‘The Lighthouse’ is the two men before you — not the mystery of the island.
The film takes you through many twists and turns, amplifying the feeling of unease with every strange occurrence; erotic imagery is used to disorient the viewer instead of provoking excitement. Winslow becomes enamoured with a carving of a mermaid (or Siren) which plays into the metaphor of honey that the picture adopts early on. I will touch more on this in the second installment.
The purpose, to symbolize the downfall of Robert Pattinson’s character – his anguish, despair, and a slow-building realization: the island’s lighthouse exists as a dual source of ruin and rejuvenation. His fixation on the glowing light that emanates out from the lantern is slowly driving him past the brink – not to mention the repeated visions of a water-nymph he keeps seeing, playfully beckoning him forward.
It seems Winslow’s downfall is inevitable.
“First you will come to the Sirens who enchant all who come near them. If any one unwarily draws in too close and hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children will never welcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and warble him to death with the sweetness of their song.” – Odysseus
(The Iliad & The Odyssey by Homer)
Rating 10/10
I need to watch his other films,
‘The Witch’ & ‘Northmen’ are on my watchlist – keep em’ coming Eggers!
