{"id":43,"date":"2019-11-10T16:18:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-10T16:18:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2022-12-31T22:06:18","modified_gmt":"2022-12-31T22:06:18","slug":"the-lighthouse-madness-at-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/misterfatherly.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/10\/the-lighthouse-madness-at-sea\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lighthouse: Madness at Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"
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9.5<\/b><\/span> out of 10<\/span>

<\/span>Years ago, during the years of the Twilight film franchise, if you would\u2019ve told me that Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen), would go on to be a better actor in several years, I would\u2019ve laughed so hard at how ridiculous that would\u2019ve been.  For the longest time, I was convinced that Robert Pattinson would be type casted for the rest of his film career like Daniel Radcliffe has been.  That viewpoint would make a complete 180 as soon as I saw Pattinson in 2017\u2019s Good Time and 2019\u2019s The Lighthouse.<\/span>

<\/span>Directed by Robert Eggers (The Witch, his film debut), The Lighthouse stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson as two lighthouse keepers, Thomas Wake and Ephraim Winslow, who are both tasked to maintain a lighthouse off the coast of New England for four weeks.  During the four weeks, Winslow maintains the lighthouse through various jobs such as fueling up the lighthouse and disposing of both men\u2019s chamber pots while Wake watches the sea from the top of the lighthouse\u2019s lantern room, a job that he always insists on doing himself and only himself. While plowing through his taxing jobs, Ephraim starts to have dreams of various mythological sea creatures such as mermaids and tentacle monsters, all after he finds a scrimshaw of a mermaid on his first day and later learns at how superstitious Wake is about sea myths such as how seagulls are reincarnated sailors and how they should never be killed.  One day, before the last day of his contracted job, Winslow has a run-in with a one-eyed seagull and beats it to death due to the seagull having been a nuisance for Winslow during his four weeks.  The wind soon changes all of a sudden and a powerful storm overcomes the island, trapping the two lighthouse keepers.  Things start to go from bad to worse as both men begin to lose their sanity due to running out of rations and forcing themselves to drink alcohol and later kerosene.  Both men learn things from each other during their natural imprisonment, things that seal their fate and turn them both to complete madness.<\/span>

<\/span>First of all, what I have to absolutely commend Robert Eggers and Crew on is complete dedication to recreating the 19th century.  From the production design to the cinematography (35 mm Black and White).  The production design and costumes make complete sense as I have been to one or two maritime museums and have seen what most lighthouse keepers would wear and have also seen an actual lighthouse site (Ponce De Inlet Lighthouse in Ponce Inlet, FL), both the film and what I\u2019ve seen look pretty darn close to me.  The cinematography in this film makes it look like a film that could\u2019ve been released in the 1920s and it makes the film look very dark and gritty for the type of film it is.  <\/span>

<\/span>Both Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson do excellent jobs as Thomas Wake and Ephraim Winslow.  Willem Dafoe commands the screen with his acting abilities as he plays a character that you can really tell has plenty of dark stories to tell from his past and can be very irritable to both Ephraim and the audience through his attitude and superstitious beliefs.  Thomas Wake is the kind of character that completely fits Willem Dafoe as he really is good at portraying people that can be both normal and psychotic.  Robert Pattinson equalizes William Dafoe as Ephraim Winslow as he also plays a character that can appear normal but can be psychotic if pushed too far and in the film\u2019s story, he gets pushed really too far that I couldn\u2019t believe what I was seeing throughout the film, mainly in the second and third act.  It would be great if both actors got nominated for their performance because this is probably two of my favorite performances that I\u2019ve seen all year and for a film to make two actors stand out really well, that is something that I am absolutely moved by as a lover of film.<\/span>

<\/span>If I had to pick my favorite scene in the movie, it\u2019s when Ephraim and Wake are drinking so much alcohol that they start to dance and it gets to the point to where they are dancing like lunatics, that can summarize this films\u2019 tone, a slow descent to madness.  One other thing I\u2019ll point out is that I couldn\u2019t help but notice a few winks to Stanley Kubrick\u2019s The Shining, mainly through scenes that involve an Axe and the way that both Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson run around with it.  I\u2019m probably in the minority about this but it did look a little similar to how Jack Nicholson ran around with the axe in The Shining, and that is not a criticism, it\u2019s more of an interesting find.  One last thing I\u2019ll point out is the finale, without spoiling the film, I found it to be very interesting as I think it was made to play mind games, it\u2019s really one that I think will be open for interpretation.  You know those films that make you think, like Blade Runner, Baby Driver, or even The Shining, this is one of those films that has various elements and I couldn\u2019t be happier that I was finally able to see it along with fellow film lovers.<\/span>

<\/span>The Lighthouse is a film that I really enjoyed because of how vague and brilliant it is.  I think this film will spark discussions of what was seen throughout as there are many scenes where Eggers clearly intended for most people to be bewildered and very open for discussion.  It\u2019s probably one of my favorite films that deals with going nuts and is very artistic with it is portrayed, most of it will be controversial to those easily offended by sexual content and very graphic depictions of violence and insanity.  The Lighthouse is one of my favorite films of 2019 and I highly encourage those who like art films like this to see if they can in theaters, it seriously felt like I was watching a 1920\u2019s film from beginning to end.  If not for the art, watch it to see Robert Pattinson as it is really clear that he is dedicated to becoming a better actor than he originally was as the pretty boy in Harry Potter and Twilight.  See it for Willem Dafoe, I don\u2019t care, just watch this movie at least once and discuss it amongst yourselves.<\/span>

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