And now for something a little different. I’ve done “Media Minutes” before, so think of this as a version of that, but just for one thing. I’ll probably do this for movies mostly, but who knows?
The Lighthouse (2019)
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Robert Pattinson
Directed by Robert Eggers
Content Advisory: This movie is rated R, and is classified by IMDb as drama, fantasy, and horror. And yes, it’s all of that. There’s infrequent language (maybe three f-words, and smatterings of other, lesser four-letter words; but they’re sailors so what do you expect?) and a few instances of pretty vivid, provocative sexual encounters. Everyone gets naked at least once in this movie, but only one vague instance of full-frontal nudity. The biggest “R-rated” part of this movie is some disturbing images (a dead seagull in a latrine, animal abuse, a decapitated head, and a mutilated body) and violence (punches, choking, axe-throwing, falling down stairs, etc.)
What do you get when you cross Herman Melville with H.P. Lovecraft? You might just get a movie like The Lighthouse, a new release by The VVitch director Robert Eggers. Now, I didn’t see the latter film, but I’ve heard it’s…disturbing. And if it’s anything like Lighthouse, it leaves you with a lot of strong mental images – most of them unsettling, but not necessarily unpleasant.
Lighthouse is part Hitchcock noir, part urban legend, and part buddy comedy. You find yourself stranded on a tiny, salty island off Nova Scotia, that is home to a lighthouse and an equally salty lighthouse keeper (Dafoe.) Enter his new assistant, Ephraim (Pattinson,) who hears that lighthouse keepers make good money – the more remote the location, the better the pay. Their first few scenes on screen are short conversations punctuated by long periods of cautious silence. We learn quickly that this lighthouse keeper might have more than a few screws loose, and that Ephraim might have more than a few secrets.
As the film draws on, the air gets tighter. The two men get to know each other, and their relationship morphs from drunk bros to a bickering couple to everything in between. Then, Ephraim does something, akin to the Rime of the Ancient Mariner’s ill-fated sailor killing a sacred albatross. Distrust begins to mount, and cabin fever sets in. It feels as though you are looking at these men through a microscope – one tiny island in the middle of a vast ocean. It gets claustrophobic.
And the film doesn’t pull back. It takes you in closer until you’re almost too close for comfort. In between the long periods of silence the movie has to offer (featuring an eerie soundtrack that you can almost feel in your bones) the two characters get their chances to rant and monologue, and when they do, the camera stays unflinchingly on their face. At one point during an impassioned curse, Dafoe’s face almost looks like a distorted skull.
That’s due in part to the deep shadows implemented in the film. It’s similar to the film noir style of the forties and fifties (it was filmed on 35mm black and white negative with a 1.19:1 aspect ratio – it’s tight.) In one scene, Ephraim stands up suddenly from a table, and the shadow cast behind him is huge and looming – it clues you in to the fact he might have a secret or two. The visuals of the film added to the suspense and awe.
The Lighthouse is a strange masterpiece, carefully crafted to make your skin crawl for days after you watch it. What is it meant to teach us? That boredom can breed bad blood? That you should never trust anyone? This movie is pretty open-ended, but it almost plays out like a cautionary tale. Maybe you should just try not to kill seabirds.
Audrey D. DeBoer 