The Lighthouse

[therewillbeblus]

Those are good points. I agree with both of you, hence the comment that it’s less poignant, but also utilizing mostly visual means to convey similarities to a play is going to make the comparison loose. I didn’t find the film to be very effective in content either beyond the disorienting experience I’ve talked about, but these other artistic products of being stuck and isolated are what came to mind, even if - as you say- Eggers delivers something different, like a half-measure (though I don’t think he intended to emulate these playwrights) and in the way of Beckett goes opposite with psychology.

[DarkImbecile]

Kristin Thompson's examination of the film and its influences

[Nasir007]

Blu Ray Announced.

One of my favorites from the year. Really enjoyed it. And hasn't lessened in estimation in my memory since the time I saw it.

I will get it on digital. The commentary should be interesting.

[mfunk9786]

No UHD... insanity. This and Midsommar are two of the best looking films this year. Oh well, digitally it's sure to be available in that format, at least, as First Reformed and Midsommar were, etc. And no director's cut shenanigans this time.

[Nasir007]

I bought it on iTunes - looks fantastic. I saw much of it again. So good. Memorable images and two very game performances by Pattinson and Dafoe. I am going to dig into the commentary later on. One of the most successfully executed films of the year for me.

[Finch]

FFC's Bryant Frazer reviews the Blu-Ray

The BD features an audio commentary by Eggers himself, and it's quite informative despite some dead air in the back half. He starts by immediately dispelling the illusion that the film was shot on location at an actual 19th-century lighthouse, discussing the process of building one to order on location at Cape Forchu, on the southern tip of Nova Scotia. Eggers contributes insight on a range of subjects, from the specific cinematographic effects created by the orthochromatic filter to the details of sound elements that went into the mix. For instance, he calls attention to the presence of a donkey's "hee-haw" in the sound of the pump that brings (initially filthy) cistern water into the living quarters. As on his yak-track for The Witch, Eggers is perhaps more self-deprecating than you'd expect from someone so exacting in his intentions and execution; as one of the film's more sexually outré scenes unspools, Egger seems to snicker a little: "This whole sequence is obviously very juvenile, but it serves its purpose." As far as Pattinson and Dafoe go, there are a couple of good actors-gonna-act stories, but Eggers doesn't dish much. He does reveal that A24 executives had advocated for a more traditional musical score, a suggestion that didn't fly but might have influenced the inclusion of certain Herrmann-esque elements in Korven's score.

An accompanying talking-heads documentary, "The Lighthouse: A Dark & Stormy Tale" (38 mins., HD), is at least as informative, covering some of the same ground but adding first-person contributions from Pattinson, Dafoe, Blaschke, production designer Craig Lathrop, and costume designer Linda Muir, all of whom address the camera directly. Also assembled is B-roll footage and location photography that gives a much fuller sense of the shoot, such as the arrival and installation of the massive Fresnel lens that's said to have magnified powerful cinema lighting fixtures into a projected beam that was visible for 16 miles around. Blaschke, especially, gets a lot of screentime to describe the particulars of his cinematography, including an explanation of how and why that custom filter works, accompanied by illustrative film clips. It's an excellent example of a BD feature done right.

[therewillbeblus]

If he's as self-deprecating and forthcoming about the process as he was in the Q&A I attended (and it sounds like he is and shares similar info) then I bet it's a worthwhile track. I didn't really know what to expect from him, but I enjoyed his transparency and demeanor.

[nitin]

This was pretty enjoyable and moody but it also felt overly self conscious and emotionally distant at the same time. Thankfully the humour throughout steps up when there is not much else of substance going on, although personally I would have preferred for it to be either more serious or more darkly humorous.

Was Cul De Sac a reference point? That was something that I kept thinking of throughout, not for any particular reason but there were some similarities with the power dynamics, the endless waiting for something that never arrives and the isolated setting.

Eggers is building to something great though, The Witch was good, this was very good, intrigued to see what he has next.

[Persona]

Watched this on Amazon... I appreciated the look of the film and Dafoe was fun to watch, but otherwise I didn't much care for it.

It was too simple and predictable to be as messy as it was, though perhaps bleak inevitability and narrative squalor to match the extreme squalor in the text were all part of the point. At times seemed like it might get interesting (identity overlaps) but chose not to follow through. Subtext and theme felt a muddle to me. Which is okay but it was too silly to be scary but also not really funny enough to entertain.

[Constable]

Has anyone seen any interviews that you could refer me to with Eggers where he talks about the homosexual aspect of the film (preferably audio or video, but print is fine, too)? Do you think there is one?

Watched this on Amazon... I appreciated the look of the film and Dafoe was fun to watch, but otherwise I didn't much care for it.

It was too simple and predictable to be as messy as it was, though perhaps bleak inevitability and narrative squalor to match the extreme squalor in the text were all part of the point. At times seemed like it might get interesting (identity overlaps) but chose not to follow through. Subtext and theme felt a muddle to me. Which is okay but it was too silly to be scary but also not really funny enough to entertain.

Could you explain this part? Not clear on what you're saying.

[DarkImbecile]

Here's an interview with Esther Zuckerman in Thrillist that touches on the subject:

"Homoeroticism doesn't necessarily have anything to do with homosexuality -- not that this movie necessarily doesn't have anything to do with homosexuality," Eggers says. "I've heard people say that it would have been better if they just went to town on each other, and people have asked me, 'What was Rob's [character's] relationship with that blonde lumberjack?' And I'm not, by the way, trying to indicate a truth or preference in anyone's interpretation." At the same time, he acknowledges the side of the movie that could be read as a treatise on toxic masculinity. "In some ways, this could be considered the absolute worst movie to be made right now. The two female characters: one is literally an object that Rob's character holds and the other is the sea," he says, acknowledging that they are powerful figures.

[Slaphappy]

I agree with Persona abput muddled themes and all. The ending kind of confirms Lighthouse as variation of Prometheus myth, but in this Millenial version there are no spoils for doing the Faustian deed and reaching the Boomer Olympos, only the infamous punishment. I think I kind of get it, but it was still a bummer ride.

[Nasir007]

Has anyone seen any interviews that you could refer me to with Eggers where he talks about the homosexual aspect of the film (preferably audio or video, but print is fine, too)? Do you think there is one?

There’s this weird romantic element between the two characters. It’s almost homoerotic.
It is homoerotic, but that doesn’t mean that they actually want to sleep with each other. But the way that we shoot Rob’s muscles is homoerotic. It just is.

I was reminded, watching the film, that the image of the lighthouse itself, in culture, is a symbol not just of mystery but also of romance.
Jung would love that. And it is a giant phallus.

What Eggers seems to be saying is that there is a separation between the artist's eye and the character's true motivations. Now the character's true motivations - whether they want to sleep with each other - are entirely subjective. Now as he has put the movie out into the world, he has surrendered that point. Now it is up for the individual viewer to make that judgment.

But as the artist, as to his own eye, he can answer for that. HE was definitely trying to eroticize the relationship, eroticize the two men. That was his attempt, to the extent that he could control it. Again, there is nothing to say whether his attempt translated for individual viewers, that's up to judgment too.

But for him, as the artist, there was an attempt at eroticism there. So I think in this context it is fine to do draw the line that yes, the movie can be said to have a homoerotic aspect but not necessarily a homosexual aspect. It isn't probing homosexual desire but it is presenting homoerotic imagery.

[yoloswegmaster]

The Lighthouse has been hinted as the next title to receive an 4K from A24.

[yoloswegmaster]

The Lighthouse has been hinted as the next title to receive an 4K from A24.

Pre-order is up on A24's site.

[mrb404]

Well, when it rains, it pours: The Lighthouse coming from Arrow.
Probably UK only, but will it be a 4K release?

[dwk]

No probably about it, Arrow will be UK only as they licensed it from Universal.

[colinr0380]

I was just thinking that the real coup would have been if Arrow could have re-printed that eight page Japanese promotional manga synopsising the film, done by none other than Junji Ito!

[Cash Flagg]

Well, when it rains, it pours: The Lighthouse coming from Arrow.
Probably UK only, but will it be a 4K release?

Bah, it figures that, as a subscriber, the one new film Arrow releases that I have even the slightest interest in watching is UK-only.