the lighthouse..

I went along to the Watershed this afternoon to see Robert Eggers’ film “The Lighthouse”. It’s a story/psychological thriller about two lighthouse keepers on a remote New England island in the 1890s. Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) reluctantly arrives on the island to undertake work at its lighthouse for four weeks. He’s met by veteran seafarer Tom Wake (Willem Dafoe) who is the senior officer and who issues all the orders – essentially Wake alone keeps the light in operation, while Winslow is given all the thankless, punishing physical work. And so starts a difficult, volatile, combative relationship...

It’s all pretty grim: the weather is dire pretty well throughout the film – storm-force winds, lashing rain and wild, wild seas (and accentuated by the shimmering 35mm black and white filming) – and the lighthouse keepers descend into a nightmarish world of resentment, paranoia and fear. Although the pair have moments of playful merriment (with singing, table-thumping and dancing – all largely thanks to alcohol), more and more of their time is spent in argument, physical confrontation, furious baiting and hatred.

The acting is quite brilliant and the cinematography (Jarin Blaschke) and score (Mark Korven) both a perfect match.

The film verges on being a horror movie… it’s haunting. It certainly deals with madness, loneliness, claustrophobic environment, frustration, periodic bouts of frightening drunkenness and all the awfulness of dealing with sewage, full chamber-pots, primitive facilities... and seagulls.

The dialogue is frequently mumbled – so I was delighted that I watched the Watershed’s sub-titled version

It’s a very bleak, uncomfortable film… but it’s also rather beautiful and hugely impressive.

I don't think it's a film that one can 'enjoy', as such, but I can certainly appreciate why so many film critics have been giving it five-star reviews. Definitely worth seeing.