The Lighthouse (2019)

[QDRPHNC]

I really enjoyed it overall. But the problem with an allegory for a metaphysical experience is that the ending will almost inevitably not be able to achieve what is being hinted at, and that definitely happened here, I thought. He finally sees the light and... well, I guess he screams silently and falls down the stairs? What would happen if you came face to face with god? Probably nothing you can convincing commit to film. Not to say the final few minutes didn't have a certain impact, but they also felt arbitrary, it could have gone any number of ways, but the director settled on a final "haunting" image, left it to us to figure out of it (the ending) actually means anything in a grander scheme, and that was that.

[Twit 2]

I don't think the film is lacking anything. Even it if it didn't gesture to anything more profound or ambiguous it would still be a stylistic triumph (and style is substance, as far as I am concerned). But it does do that too, and achieves everything it sets out to do, in a way that most films don't manage. I think it's pretty much perfect and was completely satisfied by it. I sorta feel sorry for anyone watching it and thinking "not enough". Maybe I'm just easily pleased.

[Twit 2]

Overall, though, in a film I consider an embarrassment of riches, the thing that really blew me away and I still think now, is that the period dialogue is astonishingly good. Like, the best period dialogue ever put in a film. If not, would love to hear suggestions of a film that goes further in attention to detail and verisimilitude in that regard. Also, that curse monologue by Defoe is ridiculously well-written (and performed, obviously). To write at the pitch of Shakespeare/Melville/King James Bible like that and pull it off takes real skill with language—it's not a pastiche, it's the real deal. Wonderful film.

[QDRPHNC]

Don't get me wrong, I found it absolutely impressive overall - visuals, dialogue, sound design, all stunning. For me the ending felt arbitrary, but I also think that when dealing with themes of this nature, that's unavoidable.

[Mr Farenheit]

Just saw it on Netflix. Really enjoyed it, the overall style and the dialogue was incredible- the standout being the speech where Defoe lays a curse on him. In the credits they credit Herman Melville, lighthouse log books and Sarah Orne Jewett, a novelist I'd never heard of before, as inspirations.

I thought they could have taken out

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the mermaid- and even the last scene- without losing much. I wasn't bothered about the lack of something deeper behind it all, I could enjoy that side of it as hints towards something which is so intangible because its actually just in the protaganist's deranged mind. The two men trapped together in a claustrophobic setting, hating each other and going mad, fuelled by serious alcohol abuse, was enough for me- I wasn't bothered by a deeper meanning not being clear.

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I agree that Pattinson's accent was a bit wayward, a bit like a Daniel Day Lewis impression. Also the bit where he

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throws shit over himself

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doesn't make sense- how would he not realise

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the wind was blowing in his face?

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[Mister Six]

EDIT: This is a reply to Noodle Lizard's post at the bottom of the previous page because I'm an idiot who doesn't notice entire new pages have opened up, or when a post is really old.

I have a similar response to both films as Mr. Glebe does. I find them visually impressive, well-directed and engaging (moreso The Lighthouse), but ultimately come away from them feeling a bit empty. Since The Shining has been invoked earlier in the thread, and I suppose there are some comparisons to be made between them, I'd say that's an example of a film with similar levels of ambiguity whilst also feeling more ... "complete", for lack of a better term. Of course I don't think anyone's really holding The VVitch or The Lighthouse to the same standard, but if I were to analyse why I didn't especially connect with either of them, it might be something along those lines - there's "something" missing from them, and I'm not entirely sure what it is.

I'm interested to see what he does with his Viking and Rasputin projects - if there's one thing I'm confident about with Eggers it's his care for period detail, especially in dialogue.

I felt perfectly satisfied by The VVitch, but didn't much like the ending of The Lighthouse. Seemed like a bit of abstruse imagery in lieu of a proper ending, whereas seeing Jack in the photo at the end of The Shining, while raising a million questions, does at least suggest something, whether that's his soul being absorbed into the hotel or something stranger and more abstract.

[Glebe]

Also the bit where he

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throws shit over himself

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doesn't make sense- how would he not realise

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the wind was blowing in his face?

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Apparently that was inspired by the

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scattering of Donny's ashes

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in The Big Lebowski.

[Mr Farenheit]

Apparently that was inspired by the

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scattering of Donny's ashes

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in The Big Lebowski.

Ha! Makes sense. I'll admit it was pretty funny combined with the arduous walk to get there, I suppose he was drunk out of his mind as well so.... on balance, this scene is now... approved! But please run a tighter ship in future, Eggers.

[Mister Six]

Wasn't it supposed to be one of those blustery winds that keeps changing direction?