The Lighthouse | GFC Review
Every Monday, 12 young film lovers head to our cinema under the stars at Lotterywest Films to take in the best international cinema has to offer.
As aspiring cinephiles, we wanted to know what they thought of the flicks.
Check out the review by Laurent on the 2020 Oscar nominee Best Cinematography, The Lighthouse.
Robert Eggers solidifies himself among the ranks of A24’s psychologically driven auteurs
The Lighthouse is a film about the fragility of secrets against the light of the truth, marked by the standout performances of Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe. Shot on black and white 35mm film with a narrow 1.19:1 aspect ratio, director Robert Eggers attains the feel of an earlier, grainier cinema, while also enhancing the sense of claustrophobia and repetition that runs throughout.
Partly inspired by the the classic literary work of Coleridge, Meville and Stevenson, the story broods over the unique pairing of the young Ephraim Winslow (Pattinson) and the over experienced wickie Wake (Dafoe), who must endure four long weeks together on a remote island off New England. Mark Koven’s textural soundtrack works with the arthouse experimental feeling, bringing out the concealed psychosexual features of the characters and setting.
As the film progresses, the rapport between the two oscillates between indifference, camaraderie, love and hate. Towards the halfway mark, the prolonged stay on the island starts to muddle each character’s sense of self and conception of time, as their grip on reality quickly dissipates amid the fierce gale winds. Simultaneous with the constantly building tension of the plot is the exceptionally executed humour and sense of the ridiculous, allowing the film space to dig its claws in without ever overwhelming you.
With The Lighthouse, Robert Eggers solidifies himself among the ranks of A24’s psychologically driven auteurs, offering Australian audiences a late but solid contender for one of the best films of 2019.
The Lighthouse shows at Lotterywest Films from 13 - 19 Feb, BOOK NOW.