Movie Review: The Lighthouse

I appreciate a good descent into madness flick. That being the case, I picked up The Lighthouse on a distant memory of hearing someone somewhere say something good about it, and popped it on during my sick day off of work this past Wednesday.

What the heck did I just watch?

In grim black-and-white, on a square-ish screen reminiscent of so many 50s sci fi/horror movies I absorbed as a kid, the seemingly mundane existence of a pair of lighthouse keepers – “wickies” – over the course of five weeks plays out. Yes, there is a storm. Yes, one or perhaps both go insane. Yes, an axe is hurled about.

But this movie far exceeds your typical Hollywood lowest-common-denominator thriller. There are no spring-loaded cats. There are no jump scares with accompanying blasts of screeching soundtrack. Instead, what we have here is a multi-layered, Bergmanesque tale rife with symbolism and food for thought. To truly appreciate this rare gem of a film – and for some reason “rare gem” is not something I think I want to label The Lighthouse – to truly appreciate it you need to watch it twice. Then a third time, with the audio commentary on. If you are a student of the weird, as I sometimes find myself, it’ll be worth it.

Before I try my hand at a brief synopsis, hold these thoughts in your mind for a moment:

Herman Melville meets Eraserhead. Or, Moby Dick, as penned by H. P. Lovecraft.

Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson portray Tom and Tom, two wickies manning a lighthouse on a rock off the coast of Nova Scotia circa 1890. Old Tom is a retired sea man, Young Tom an ex-logger who may be hiding something in his past. They speak in the linguistics of the time, which means sometimes it is hard to understand the dialogue, especially when Old Willem gets a-rollin’ with the cursin’.

However, no one speaks for the first ten minutes of the movie as we see Old and Young about their drab routine. There’s tension between the two, generational tension and something more, something undefined. Old Tom is a hard taskmaster; Young Tom seems the type of feller who’ll clock the man ridin’ him too hard. One’s a drinker, one’s not, though that changes midway in the film far for the worse.

But it’s not just a psychological thriller with a bloody climax. No, there’s something more here, something supernatural that’s hinted at. It took me a second watch and some commentary to catch it. As the film barrels towards its conclusion, it becomes more and more obvious, but there are also lots of forshadowey bits of dialogue and imagery. First off, the warning not to kill a sea bird, cuz “in ’em’s the souls of dead sailors,” is disobeyed, and immediately the Old Gods are not pleased: in a nicely done scene the weather vane stops, pauses, and reverses direction. Then, the storm.

Then, the light. And what lies behind it. Or in it.

Three scenes from this movie I will always remember. First is one about midway through based on this 19th-century painting:

After this image splashed across the screen, I realized this was not a Stephen King adaptation.

Second is the penultimate scene, the opening of the revolving Fresnel light at the top of the lighthouse. My God, what an evil, otherworldly thing this Fresnel light, yet something that was apparently used for years with no ill effect. I’ve always written Robert Pattison off as that somewhat effeminate dude from the vampire movies, however I’ll grant him this: he still may not win an awards acting, but man O man is he willing to go all out. Once you see it you’ll see what I mean.

And the final scene, well, to describe it would take away its impact. For those who know their Greek mythology, or those who can search the internet quickly and effectively, it hearkens back to Prometheus, spoken of in a diatribe by Old Tom that includes the shapeshifting Proteus and good old King Neptune himself, “our father,” as the elder wickie calls him.

I absolutely appreciated the authenticity of this film. It pays. I love the super attention to detail. I love a filmmaker not treating me like I’m some ill-educated dolt who needs everything explained to him. The mythological references, the homages to Lovecraft, coupled with great cinematography and phenomenal acting (Dafoe should be nominated for his accent alone, as well as his “eye acting”) made this a good movie experience.

Though I still find it unsettling. It’s not a feel-good movie. But if you’re an aficionado, as I am, I want you to check it out.

Grade: A-minus.