01
The last shot of the director's previous work "The Witch" (2015), the witches dance by the bonfire, and then rise up - it is different from the horror and fright of the traditional witch theme, it aims to accurately describe and reproduce, as for whether it is scary or not , it is entirely up to the audience to experience it personally.
It digs material in New England folklore and mythology, opening up new frontiers of horror. The Lighthouse (2019) stands out from the crowd in horror films.
02
First Interpretation - Beacon as a Symbol of Power
The aged lighthouse keeper Thomas (William Dafoe) and his assistant Winslow (Robert Pattinson) take over from the previous guards and come to the desert island to manage the lighthouse.
Thomas, the old caretaker, assigned to Winslow unfinished work, and forbade Winslow from going to the lighthouse, he carried the key of the lighthouse with him. To Winslow, the lighthouse seemed to hold untold secrets that strongly appealed to him to find out.
The harsh conditions on the island and Thomas' bossing towards him make Winslow increasingly unbearable, and their conflict finally erupts.
Old Thomas went after Winslow with an axe. Driven like a dog, Winslow gained the upper hand through a fierce fight.
He tied old Thomas on a leash, at which point the power relationship reversed, and the person controlled by the power became the controller.
Winslow dragged his weary body up to the lighthouse, he won the lighthouse, he was ready to take possession of the lighthouse.
When he opened the lampshade, he went crazy - there was nothing but dazzling lights.
Eventually he was swallowed by the lighthouse.
Second Interpretation: As a Lighthouse of the Holy Fire
On a deserted island, a lighthouse hides fire. Winslow, the incarnation of Prometheus, went to steal the fire.
Siren the Siren attempts to confuse Winslow's mind.
The one-eyed skeleton frightened him.
Aquaman also came to hinder Winslow's fire thievery.
After a fierce fight, Sea King was defeated.
Prometheus finally stole the flame.
As punishment, he was pecked by seagulls, over and over again.
Third Interpretation: As a Beacon of Crusoe
Thomas, a young lumberjack who kills foreman Winslow with an axe, escapes to the island as Winslow to take up a job as a lighthouse keeper.
The isolated island, coupled with the effects of alcohol, caused Thomas to have hallucinations. He imagined another old lighthouse keeper (William Dafoe) who was trying to make things difficult for him.
He dreamed of a mermaid under the sea.
Stranded mermen, one-eyed seagulls, one-eyed skeletons, all kinds of strange things make Thomas unable to distinguish the boundary between reality and fantasy.
He killed the old caretaker in his fantasy, and at the call of Crusoe, he went to the lighthouse and went crazy.
03
The director has read a lot of folklore records and seamen's notes of the last century, and presented a thrilling audio-visual on the basis of restoring the reality. He visualizes folk texts, does not exclude ambiguity, carefully arranges mythological symbols, and presents a magical effect that is both true and false in temperament.
It greets interpretations with an open attitude, each of which becomes part of the film itself.
View more about The Lighthouse reviews
