The Lighthouse Review

This week we are reviewing Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse. It's a descent into madness that doesn't hold your hand. The performances of Willem Defoe and Robert Pattinson are worth the price of admission, but everything related to the production design, sound, and script are all of the highest caliber. Big thanks to Dustin Goebel (@dgoebel00 on instagram) for the original artwork In his sophomore film, Robert Eggers follows up The Witch with a romcom set in Nova Scotia. Willem Defoe plays an experienced sailor, and Robert Pattinson plays his young and supple protege. In this will they won’t they romantic drama, they fight happiness every step of the way, until it finally wears them down.  Poster for The Lighthouse Here is the trailer. https://youtu.be/Hyag7lR8CPA The Lighthouse Trailer Synopsis for The Lighthouse (2019) Actually, The Lighthouse is about two lighthouse keepers, or wickies, that are stationed in a remote lighthouse in New England. Willem Defoe plays Thomas Wake, an elderly salty seaman, and Robert Pattinson plays Ephraim Winslow a young man trying out a new career. As Wake domineers over Winslow, forcing him to do all the hard labor up-keeping the tattered lighthouse, he spends the coveted watch basking naked in the glow of the lamp. Winslow wants some of that sweet naked basking action, and he slowly descend into madness. Review of The Lighthouse If you are going into this film expecting another The Witch, you are going to be disappointed. This is a much more surreal and confusing film.  However, what this movie does share with Eggers’ first film is a meticulously historically accurate film with a unique and striking visual style. While I might not have liked this film as much as I thought I would, I can’t help but have respect for Eggers’ ambitious artistic vision. Pattinson and Defoe are perfect casting for this film, and they both give amazing performances. There are some really great scenes and monologues in this film. General audiences will probably be turned off by a lot of the choices that were made in terms of narrative and visual style, but film students will be creaming over this movie for years to come. Watch The LighthouseOn AmazonClick Here to Watch Is The Lighthouse a Horror Movie? Is this a horror movie? Kind of. It has enough horror elements to qualify it way more than a movie like Happy Death Day 2U. Most of the focus is on the tension between the two main characters, and the mental instability caused by seclusion and alcoholism. That being said, there are Lovecraftian and folkloric horror elements. Visual Style The most striking aspect of the visuals of the film is it's aspect. RATIO, that is. It is shot in 1.19:1 aspect ratio, which is basically square. It evokes a kind of claustrophobia and intimacy that is rare in a theatrical experience. This is not to say that we are unfamiliar with this framing in modern times. Instagram, is one of the most popular social media platforms for digesting imagery. It was shot on 35mm black and white Double-X 5222 film using a Panavision Millennium XL2 camera with vintage Baltar lenses from the early 20th century. The film stock required a much brighter light source to get exposure, so they had to use about 15 to 20 times more light on set to actually see anything on film. Because of this, the crew would often wear sunglasses. Sound Design The sound design on this film is great. Along with the anachronistic visual style, the sound on this film is mixed in mono. This doesn't hinder the film in any noticable manner. The music by Mark Korven stays out of the way, and mostly features wind instruments in an aleatoric style. The one sound that will stick with you is the sound of the foghorn. According to IMDB trivia, Damian Volpe, the sound designer on the film, consulted with J.J. Jamieson, a YouTuber that does tutorials on operating and maintaining foghorns. They made recordings of a period-accurate foghorn that Volpe then manipulated to create a foghorn sound that was uniquely ominous. https://youtu.be/iHCmzvzCmhI This Youtuber was a consultant on The Lighthouse. Production Design The production design on The Lighthouse was very impressive. The look of the film was historically accurate to the 1890s. They even built a full-sized working lighthouse in Nova Scotia for the film, They consulted with a historical lighthouse lens manufacturer to build a period appropriate lens. The full-sized, working lighthouse built for the production. The interiors were shot on a sound stage, but looked they looked like they were right there next to the ocean. The real star of the show was the weather. Eggers stated that a lot of the more dramatic shots of weather were real. The Acting The acting was superb by both leads. Willem Defoe was born to play a crusty ex-sailor lighthouse keeper. He plays with the appropriate gravitas and vulnerability that was demanded by the script. Pattinson really shines here. This might be a career defining role for him. He has come a long way since Twilight and is hitting it out of the park in his latest roles. Pattinson plays Winslow perfectly in the beginning of the film as an empathy inducing protagonist opposite the overbearing Wake. But slowly and with much skill, he is able to show Winslows slow descent into madness and reveal many new colors within the character by the end of the film. Our Score 8/10 Spoilers for The Lighthouse Click to expand for spoilers... Farts This movie features a lot of farts. early and often. I really felt for poor Winslow, since I can empathize sitting across from a flatulator in a confined space. There are a lot of confusing elements in this film by design. It's hard to say whether some elements of the story are spoilers or not, given they are so open to interpretation. Naked Lighthouse Keeping One element of the story is that Winslow is very interested in usurping Wake in the coveted night watch in the lens room. Winslow peeps on Wake at different times throughout the movie. Early on he sees Wake naked and drunk at the top of the tower. Wake is seemingly in love, or at the very least, enchanted with the lighthouse light. Later Winslow is able to catch glimpses of Wake in the tower possibly having sex with a tentacled monster. Bad Luck to Kill a Seabird When Winslow complains about a meddling seagull, Wake informs him that "It's bad luck to kill a seabird". Winslow doesn't take Wake's advice and is later shown violently killing the one-eyed seagull that keeps seemingly mocking him. After the death of the bird, things do not go well for the pair. The wind changes and the boat that was supposed to relieve them couldn't make landfall because of the poor weather. Winslow slowly goes crazy and the lighthouse itself starts coming apart at the seams. One interpretation is that Winslow brought a curse upon himself by killing the seagull. However, it is just as likely that his hallucinations and violence are caused by his alcoholism. The change in their fates also coincided with Winslow starting to drink (immediately to excess). It's up for the audience to decide. The Ending of The Lighthouse Explained Winslow reveals to Wake that his real name is also Thomas and that he is responsible for the death of a lumberman that he used to work with. Winslow's murderous side is revealed at the end of the movie when he violently attacks Wake and buries him alive. He finally ascends the lighthouse tower to see what all the fuss is about. When we looks into the light, he is blinded and falls to his death on the rocks below. The final shot of the movie shows Winslow on the rocks with his entrails being eaten by seagulls. Eggers has stated in interviews that the death was an allusion to the myth of Prometheus, the god that defied the other gods to give men light, and was condemned to live eternity tied to a rock and have an eagle eat his liver everyday. Final Recommendations for The Lighthouse This film is highly recommended, but if you are allergic to art-house film, you might need an Epi-pen. A lot of people are going to interpret a lot of the choices in this film as pretension, but it is undeniably a well crafted film with interesting and compelling characters. You definitely won't find another film like this one in recent history. Horror Movie Talk Pumpkin Carving Contest Entries Brad B's "Mario Mushroom" on the left Jarred B. Wins the Grand Prize! (@jbpumpkins on Insta) Garrett (left) and Kaitlin (right) D. Tina D. Ties for Second Place Xavier D. Stephen R. Jessica C. Ties for Second Place Magnus K. Horror Movie Talk Episode 69: The Lighthouse Review Transcript Click to expand for the full transcript of the episode. This episode Brought to you by Crazy Tom's Beard Oil. With so many trendy hipsters with beards, it's getting harder and harder for a hobo like yourself to show people that you're not to be fucked with. Well, with crazy Thomas Beard Oil you can keep. Your beard is disheveled as 17th century sailors taint. When people see your beard with crazy times beard oil, they'll cross to the other side of the street before they can even hear you talk about the voices. That's crazy. Tom's beard Oil available wherever. Two. Buck, Chuck Isolde Hello and welcome to horror movie talk and opinionated and accidentally funny horror movie review Show your panel of experts. Hosts each week are Dr Bryce Hanson, who holds a phD in spookology, and Professor David Day, the foremost expert on scare No-nos. New theatrical releases get priority, but we also review older horror movies both good and horrible. I'm break dancing. Hey, I'm David. Who are you going? Okay, David Day, David Day. Not to be mistaken for, um, little play or big say more David Gay Professor David D ad junk....