30 days of unseen horror
Film 7
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On a remote rock off the coast of New England a lighthouse keeper and his new assistant land at the start of a 4 week stint to take care of the lighthouse. Thomas Howard and Thomas Wake we shall call them Tom (Dafoe) and Tommy (Pattison). Tom is an old sea dog and Tommy is just a young buck bouncing from job to job trying to build a future for himself. The two take it in shifts Tom sleeps by day and looks after the light at night and Tommy sleeps nights and acts like a housewife during the day cleaning shovelling coal washing floors but never ever allowed near the light. The two men have a rocky relationship right from the get go but tensions soften when the booze starts to flow but the good times are short lived when the booze that once helps pass the time starts to consume the two men and their minds.
This is definitely not a film i could review straight away it takes time to sink in i felt a little battered after watching it so i had to wait for the fog of madness to clear and let me think straight. The acting is brilliant especially Willem Dafoe steal the show even if it is just a two man show but anyway
. I could of done without seeing him naked or seeing his jizz dripping through the floor of the lighthouse but he was very convincing i know people who have spent their whole lives at sea and just in their eyes you can tell they have seen things they have that gaze people that return from war have and Willem Dafoe had this look about him. The look of the film is fantastic the black and white and the aspect ratio adds to the feeling of loneliness and claustrophobia the constant sound of the fog horn is extremely haunting it's like there is something hiding past the waves and deep in the fog.
The whole film feels like a night out with people you are meeting for the first time firstly its awkward and people are shy and reserved making awkward conversations trying to find common ground to get things moving a bit smoother. Then the alcohol kicks in and the fun times start to roll everyone is best friends people laugh at everyone's stories it feels like it going real smooth until the shots start to pour and everyone thinks they are Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers but in reality everyone is David Brent. The next step in the night is when it starts to get messy and you find people attractive who you don't actually find attractive and just when you think your night cant get any worse you wake up and your soul is hovering over your body telling you how disgusting you are and it stands there judging you all day letting you think your going to die until it sees you have suffered enough and life is good again.
Maybe i'm reading too much into this and really it's a shit film but im in an arty mood and want to appear deep and reflective like a true artist
I did really enjoy this great performances great imagery but i did feel it was a little overly long. Its hard not to watch this without thinking about The VVitch but its unfair on the Lighthouse because The VVitch is a masterpiece in my eyes and this was never going to live up to that.
As someone who has an obsession with the sea ever since i was a kid i was really looking forward to this i have always and still do find lighthouses both beautiful and haunting. The sea itself its beautiful to look at but its so unforgiving not only its the unknown of what's underneath but the many lives that it has taken. She keeps luring you back over and over again.
7/10
I think this needed longer to sink in because obviously the fog of madness is still clouding my judgement feels like im speaking in tongues with this review