The Lighthouse (Robert Eggers)

nthclare wrote: »

I must see if that is coming out soon in the big screen ?

Wide release scheduled for January at the moment.

Thoroughly dug this, with the disclaimer that it does get a bit repetitious as it veers madly towards its wild conclusion.

Pitched somewhere between Hard to Be a God, The Turin Horse and The Witch but also very funny, it is a monochrome hand grenade made of brine, piss, blood and assorted other bodily fluids (channelling the spirit of HTBAG capably in that respect). Great care has been put into making the framing aesthetically pleasing but also always off centre and a l’il weird. Perfect fit for the aspect ratio, with some monstrously intense close-ups. Eggers scatters the phantasmorigical moments and more explosive outbursts carefully for maximum impact. Deeply appreciate the soundtrack blasting us with a persistently loud foghorn every couple of seconds for the first act to get us in the mood.

It’s all on the two lads, to be fair, and they’re both the best. Defoe has the strongest material, somehow ensuring his piratey, sea shanty-style dialogue makes perfect sense within the world - he reads these outrageous lines like a dream, while also capable of raising a laugh or chill through some mad glare at the camera. Pattinson once again proves himself one of Hollywood’s youngest MVPs, capably matching and arguably even surprising the crazed intensity of his more experienced counterpart - there’s some bits where he rambles into incoherence, and I was there for it. Together they soar, and they both put themselves through admirable levels of physical humiliation in the pursuit of this ludicrous vision.

As alluded to at the start, I did feel the momentum isn’t consistent: there is only so many times the ‘working day -> crazy bender -> manic outburst -> weird ****’ formula can be used in a single film without settling into a familiar rhythm. It’s a good formula, mind you, but the tricks become clear early and what you’re left with is escalation. Again: good escalation, but couldn’t shake the feeling there was a slightly tighter edit waiting to pounce. And I might need a second viewing to parse some of the denser shanty dialogue.

But it’s overall a loving cinematic hymn to sea madness and bat**** insanity. Eggers is a smart guy, and great to hear him afterwards espouse on the sheer attention to detail put into the development and production - he draws from a premium well of history, filmic and otherwise.

In short: The Lighthouse is the buddy comedy of the year, while also being a great body / psychological horror film, while also farting (literally - these two chaps start letting them off within seconds) in the direction of easy genre classifications. Recommended!