Robert Eggers Just Solidified His Position.
Robert Eggers without any doubt proved to us that cinema is not just filled with only dry directors with no artistic purpose, but there is a layer where some profound guys are all hiding. Robert Eggers had already shown his skill in his previous movie The Witch and here, he once again nailed the movie above the expectations. Just give this nigga The Witcher series for direction.
The Lighthouse movie is wonderful and it is a gem of 2019 which many might have missed. The story is pretty simple about isolation and losing your sanity. These types of tales are those which are done in many ways and many times. It is nothing new and also, this type of a movie and like exactly this type indeed was The Lighthouse (2016) which obviously was released before this movie, and had the same motive and tale. Now, this is a solid example for some barking buffoons, who keep on barking for adaptation being bad or lacking originality of its own. This movie is a big example for them and teaches them how a movie that is highly inspired is yet better and more original than the one it is based on.
What Makes The Lighthouse So Worthy To Watch?
The reasons are pretty clear here, The Lighthouse was shot in black and white with a specific aspect ratio to make it more beautiful than ever, and also, it is a big kudos to classics. This is not only it though, the powerful performances of solid and profound written characters won’t bore me for a century. The screenplay is so intact and wonderfully written, it is unforgettable. The soundtrack is flawless almost and the setting is pretty perfect.
The whole universe of this movie is created with a big heart and effort, and more importantly masterful writing. Now, regardless of all these wonderful achievements, The Lighthouse is not an epitome of perfection. The ending is a bit stale and disappointing. The climax is like ripped off of any horror flick with a forcefully twisted situation with neither any depth nor any big purpose.
The film suddenly forced symbolism, hidden meaning shit, and whatnot. These things could have been shown really subtly with powerful weightage built up by characters and atmosphere, and obviously deep down with the writing. This was an unnecessary and too goofy twist to a serious drama which was playing very well. It felt like a gratuitous ending to this movie. And also, at some points the film, the originality and uniqueness were lacking too but on very few occasions. This is my basic view of this and now, If you are ready we are going to go a bit deeper.
Read More On Fantasy Movies Here
The Lighthouse: In-depth Analysis
The story of this movie is really simple as I just said, it is not a novel tale. It is about guys who are living together and how their rage started. These types of things are portrayed in many movies and the big and most close example is The Shining but also, Shallow Grave and heck! even Reservoir Dogs type of movies have a pretty same reason for those fights deep down.
Now, is this a reason to deduct any points? No, not at all, I don’t think this is a logical reason to minus marks on their motive and aim just based on being normal. The main issue will only come when the presentation of their own would lack originality. There are many cases where many people take simple and old stories and they nail them better than the original content. The Godfather, Harry Potter, and Scorsese’s career is a big example of it. Now, this movie did achieve its own originality majority of the time. The whole tale is told in a way that looks more new than it is. There are times where it is really a vanilla horror movie, and sometimes it feels as if this was Ingmar Bergman’s kiddo giving an unnecessary tribute to him.
The direction of each scene of this movie is flawless or at least I didn’t find any. The direction is really top-notch. There is no doubt the director gave something memorable and magnificent for a person who has directed just one movie before this one. It is really impressive. Many directors have done tons of movies and have bigger experience than what R. Eggers can only dream but still, R. Eggers defeated them and knocked them outta the park.
*Just a wave to Nolan Paaji*
Well, I did have a problem with one aspect of direction here. No, not anything technically or anything execution wise because it was flawless but the intention and the motive of direction were a bit stale. This was at many times skipping the main deal of intense drama to some typical secret-ish gimmicky way of direction of common psychological mystery movies. It was feeling really stale and dumb. It is outdated and done to death.
This both brothers and writers’ game of writing in this movie is the main deal. The screenplay is the movie’s biggest savior, which is something that polished the living shit outta this movie wonderfully. Robert Eggers and Max Eggers just broke the barrier of awesome writing and unleashed strong energy which will stick right into our hearts. The dialogues are without any doubt completely flawless and really well-written.
The characters were really great and were presented in the most awesome way possible. Not only that but the acting of each character was given complete justice. Robert Pattinson nailed it, Willem Dafoe knocked it outta the park, Valeriia Karaman played her role of just a mermaid but the presentation of those scenes was giving her a bigger weightage than many directors’ major characters.
I loved the soundtrack and this may come to my favorite soundtrack of 2019, in the second position with a tie to Joker. The whole feeling of those AC 4: The Black Flag was awoken by the sailor songs of this movie. The cinematography of this movie is the best in 2019! I said it! The cinematography of The Lighthouse is unbeatable for a good time. At least for me, and temporarily I think so.
All in all, this is a wonderful gem which we all need to watch at least for one time in our life. This movie didn’t do anything new or something that much profound to remember it always but still, this is one of the best movies of 2019.
The World of Movies Rating – 08/10
Movie Title: The Lighthouse
Directed: Robert Eggers
Written by: Robert Eggers, Max Eggers
Main Cast: Robert Pattinson as Ephraim Winslow/Thomas Howard, Willem Dafoe as Thomas Wake, Valeriia Karaman as the Mermaid, Logan Hawkes as Ephraim Winslow
Year of Release: 2019
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Country of Origin: Canada, USA (Hollywood)
Languages: English
Running time: 109 minutes
Production Company: A24, Maiden Voyage Pictures, New Regency Pictures, Parts and Labor, RT Features
Distributed by: A24
Image Source: Screenshots taken from The Lighthouse movie.
Reviewed by: Arsalan Altaf Soomro