【Macao International Film Festival Viewing】Three years ago, American director Robert Eggers made a blockbuster with "The Witch", and this year his second work "The Lighthouse" was shortlisted for the "Directors' Fortnight" in Cannes, continuing the retro style of his debut. The style has also aroused great attention from film critics. Black-and-white images, 1:1 classical format, and minimalist character and environment design give this allegorical story a distinct author label. Eggers seems to have begun to pursue the extremist aesthetics of French director Gaspar Nou, successfully creating an experience of extreme physical discomfort in terms of sound and cinematography. The creepy soundtrack and natural environment sounds are the most terrifying throughout, and an unknown sense of horror runs through. At the end of the hero Pattinson, he found a secret on the top floor of the lighthouse and fell into a state of madness, which is completely a reproduction of "Irrevocable". And the stylized montage treatment is also a testament to this extreme aesthetic: seagulls, mermaids, octopus monsters, dead companions, all constantly reveal a ferocious sense of horror in the picture. The film revolves around "desire". Whether it is the confrontation of hierarchical power or the psychological insanity brought about by sexual repression, it ultimately points to eternal death. This not-so-fresh theme takes on an increasingly attractive plot tension after introducing an uncertain narrator into the script. We begin to wonder if Willem Dafoe's old sailor is a real character or just a fantasy by Pattinson, and this ambiguity is vividly illustrated in the scene where the two scuffle. What is even more surprising is that the director tried his best to incorporate a humorous atmosphere while creating a sense of horror and horror. The two used vulgar language at the dinner table to scold, and imitated Kubrick's axe in "The Shining" to kill, This fun tribute adds a bit of dark humor to the horror-horror level.
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