The Lighthouse

Wow!

They don’t make many films like this anymore - an intense and very dark psychological drama that could have been made by Tarkovsky (with some Guy Maddin thrown in). Shot in stunning black & white, with an almost-square aspect ratio, The Lighthouse is a gorgeous work of cinematic art, telling the very simple story of two lighthouse keepers spending a few weeks in a lighthouse off the coast of Maine in the 1890’s.

An instant classic, The Lighthouse is, nevertheless, a film that few people will enjoy watching (or want to see). I don’t think it’s a horror film (though I could be wrong about that - this film defies such assertions), but it is a nightmare, almost from start to finish. And the film’s only two characters are not exactly sympathetic, which is normally a huge problem for me. But the acting (Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson) and cinematography are so sublime and the atmosphere (aided by the setting and the score) so overwhelming that The Lighthouse becomes an immersive experience like few I have experienced in the cinema in the past decade. 

Thomas Wake (Dafoe) and Ephraim Winslow (Pattinson) are dropped off on a large rock some distance from the coast of Maine to spend four weeks taking care of the lighthouse (beautifully constructed near Yarmouth, Nova Scotia). Wake is a “wickie” (lighthouse keeper) who’s been taking care of this lighthouse for years. Winslow is a newbie. It doesn’t take Wake long to put Winslow in his place, telling him that taking care of the light is Wake’s task while Winslow is responsible for all the dirty work (taking care of the coal stove that runs the light, cleaning, emptying the chamber pots and so on).

Winslow is far from pleased with this arrangement, but the promised money is good, his last job in Canada (as a timberman) was hardly easy, and how bad can four weeks be? You do not want to know the answer to that question, but “bad” would be an understatement. Then again, it’s not just four weeks; a nasty storm prevents the boat from picking Winslow up after four weeks. After that, time becomes rather fluid as Winslow’s growing resentment of his work and growing obsession with the light, combined with dwindling food supplies, leads to a descent into madness. Wake may have been mad to start with. Did I mention the mermaid?

Spending 105 minutes with these two lonely men in their claustrophobic, cold, wet, shabby, dirty and unimaginably stinky (did I mention Wake’s constant farting) home is no fun at all, though it’s fascinating to watch them grow closer as they also grow less trusting of each other. But I do appreciate being gripped by such a mesmerizing and haunting work of art. The Lighthouse gets **** and will be in my top ten of the year.