“Pigeon Point Lighthouse (2016)” by Frank Schulenburg, sourced from Wikimedia Commons, is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
by Miette Deschenes
Isolation, as many are learning right now, affects everyone differently. Some people find power, strength or peace in solitude. Others find it lonely, sad or uninspiring. For the characters in “The Lighthouse” (2019), isolation is torture. Ephraim and Thomas, the protagonists of the film, slowly spiral into madness as they are trapped on a small island with only each other. For many people, this film is probably too upsetting to watch right now. Its tone is distinctly pessimistic, miserable and dark. But for those who remain unaffected by quarantine-like stories, or are looking for a slow-burn psychological horror film, this movie is a perfect choice. It was recently added to Amazon Prime and is one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2019 — and for good reason.
Directed by Robert Eggers and starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, “The Lighthouse” has a lot of things going for it. The premise is simple — in the 1890s, Pattinson and Dafoe go to work on a lighthouse on an island off the coast of New England, and when they become trapped there, they go crazy. Trying to describe the plot does not do this film justice. The strength of the film really lies in the acting. Pattinson and Dafoe give nuanced performances, slowly transforming from tense strangers into tentative friends and then into insane, angry, violent enemies. They are both mesmerizing, giving career-highlight performances that show off their wide range of skills.
Pattinson and Dafoe give nuanced performances, slowly transforming from tense strangers into tentative friends and then into insane, angry, violent enemies. They are both mesmerizing, giving career-highlight performances that show off their wide range of skills.
The cinematography is another highlight of the film. Every frame is carefully composed, and the film is absolutely gorgeous. Shot on black-and-white 35mm film, it looks unlike any other film that has been released recently; this is intentional, as it was filmed with lenses from the 1930s and custom film stock designed to mimic period-appropriate film. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, cinematographer Jarin Blaschke discussed these techniques and explained that panchromatic film, which is the type of film stock used for movies before digital cameras, is sensitive to red light, which means it can produce colors similar to how the human eye perceives them. Because he and Eggers wanted to replicate a look that mimicked photos from the period as accurately as possible, they set out to replicate the effects of orthochromatic film stock, which was very sensitive to blue light and would make the black-and-white film look more unique. Orthochromatic film stock is no longer produced, so Blaschke achieved this look by combining panchromatic film stock with a custom shortpass filter. Blaschke’s hard work paid off. The film is beautiful, and with its almost square aspect ratio, it looks like something out of another time.
The film is beautiful, and with its almost square aspect ratio, it looks like something out of another time.
“The Lighthouse” has a lot of symbolic imagery and subtext. The titular lighthouse is rich with symbolism, from its phallic appearance to the light inside which Pattinson’s character is mysteriously drawn to. Some of the film’s themes, such as alcoholism and mythology, are blatant and hard to miss. Others, like its exploration of male gender dynamics and homosexuality, are hidden below the surface. This makes it a great film to watch and analyze because it has many layers of storytelling happening in every scene.
Eggers’ film is a masterclass in tension and psychological horror, but by the end of it, I couldn’t help but wonder, what was the point? All of that tension, anger, violence and buildup, for what? The ending, while fitting for the tone of the film, didn’t feel satisfactory to me. The intention was clearly to keep it vague, but it was a little too vague for there to be much emotional payoff. There was no way this story was going to end well — from the start, viewers know they are entering a tragic, miserable story — but somehow, the ending feels so bleak that it loses some of its emotional punch.
While “The Lighthouse” is very complex and nuanced, its central question could be summarized as, what happens if you put two unstable men in isolation on an island? The answer is perfectly said by Dafoe’s character: “Boredom makes men to villains.”
