Basic technical information of the film
Main producer of the film: A24, Regent Entertainment
Duration: 1 hour 49 minutes (109 minutes)
Camera used for film: Panaflex Millennium® XL2, 35mm film, black and white, 2D
DI Digital Intermediate: 4K
Screen aspect ratio: 1.19:1
Mixing: mono mono, Dolby Digital
North American Video Rating: R , contains sexual content, nudity, violence, disturbing imagery or language.
△ A24 can be said is a clear stream in the commercial era of the big studios, inception has been focused on independent films produced, the ability to rely on a very high awareness piece is now almost equal to the share of the six major Hollywood in recent years produced a lot Works familiar to the public, Miss Bird, Rough Diamond, Moonlight, Machina, Disaster Artist and more.
(This article contains spoilers SPOILER ALERT)
" Murky black smoke from the curved chimneys in the thick fog, roaring fog whistles. The shadow that appears in the distance may be a person, but he can easily become a ghost. "
The story tells the story of two people on a secluded island who become partners because of their lighthouse work: Thomas Howard (Robert Pattinson), a taciturn lumberjack (let's call him Winslow for the sake of distinction), and Thomas Wake, a powerful lighthouse keeper. (Willem Dafoe), a series of stories about the contradictions of power struggle, self-identity and redemption generated by the two people living together.
The film is director Robert Eggers' second feature-length film, the director himself and his brother Max Eggers co-wrote the screenplay. In the previous film "The VVitch", director Robert chose to use all natural light as the light source, and used candles for lighting in the interior scenes to restore nature as much as possible; this time, Panavison's light source was used in the shooting of "The Lighthouse". 35mm film machine (1.19:1) and monophonic mixing are used for filming and creation. The use of black and white tone prompts the audience to focus more on the development of the story itself. It brings us one step closer to the "real fear" created by the director.
The plot of the movie is mainly based on Winslow's desire to climb the lighthouse, which is mixed with the power struggle and conflict between the two. The arrangement of shots and actors are also very clever.
If we divide the screen into two areas on the left and right to represent the opposition of the two characters, we can find that the large part of the character screen arrangement is that the two people are distributed on both sides of the screen, and they alternate due to contradictions or events. The alternation of segments occurs a total of six times in the film.
Let's take the last two shots in the same frame as an example, such as:
·After Winslow smashed the one-eyed seagull with a stone, Thomas slapped Winslow at the dinner table. Compared with the last time the two were in the same frame, the two positions alternated.
Winslow quarreled with Thomas due to dissatisfaction with the division of labor. After Thomas showed a strong desire for control
·Thomas fell into Winslow's arms after the two drunken scuffles, and then Winslow's arrogance rose until Thomas was killed
In terms of scene design, indoor shots basically use close-up or even close-up, while outdoor scenes mostly use panoramic or large perspectives to compare with the interior. Small tables and low eaves form a desire to escape. The island itself acts as a contrast to the sea to express a sense of uncertainty and the character's loss of self.
There are several obvious uses of sound throughout the film, wind, thunder, foghorns, waves, and clocks. The sound of the wind reminds and renders emotions every time the situation is extremely serious, especially when Winslow kills the one-eyed seagull, everything goes out of control, the sound of the wind intensifies, and the wind direction also changes.
The sound of thunder seems to express the mood swings in Winslow's heart, the resistance and screaming at the control of power, fear and guilt, including the degree of inconsistency that is partly accompanied by thunderstorms to exacerbate the incident. A gust of wind blowing excrement on Winslow when he went to pour a chamber pot on the reef, the guilt after masturbating in the log cabin, standing on the reef and the transport ship not coming, etc. These are all thundering sounds immediately after the event.
The foghorn sound is interesting, each time it appears as a catalyst for the Winslow action, here are two symbols used in the movie, the lighthouse and the merman. When these two symbols appear, the sound of the fog flute has the effect of hypnosis, temptation and confusion. According to Western legends, mermaids can lure sailors on passing ships with their songs and eat them. In the film, when Winslow saw the mermaid on the shore for the first time, all the other ambient sounds disappeared and only the sound of the fog whistle was left, as if bewitched by the sound; every time Winslow approached the lighthouse, the fog whistle sounded like a hypnotic telling him to go there. . When he took out the mermaid statue little by little in the cabin and started masturbating, he was accompanied by the sound of the fog whistle; when he saw the mermaid screaming and found that he was trapped, his scream fell into the fog whistle and the mermaid screaming In the sound, it was covered by theirs.
About the symbols in the film
-- Lighthouse--
The lighthouse itself can be seen as a symbol of desire, the sound of a fog flute to lure the characters, it can be seen as an erect genitalia (also mentioned in the script), which is clearly implied in the scene of the cabin. It symbolizes desire as well as masculinity. The top of the lighthouse is an area that Winslow has never been able to reach, and Thomas has always been there, representing the rights that Winslow has always wanted, and this inequality adds to the drama in the film. .
-- one-eyed--
"Killing a seagull brings bad luck," Thomas has always said. In the film, he emphasizes that seagulls are the souls of dead sailors, and the concept of one-eyed appears in three places in the film, the seagull, and the head in the lobster box. , and Winslow who finally died.
-- Mermaid--
The image of the mermaid appears in the small sculpture, on the shore, which can represent the embodiment of desire. Winslow has been in his pocket, always there, and has been tempting him to develop towards extinction.
-- liquor--
Jiu has always opened his heart to reveal his intention to relax his vigilance, and it also serves as a catalyst for the gradual clarity of the character's image.
Interesting brain hole guesses and seeing the story from a different angle
The fascinating thing about the lighthouse movie is the ambiguity and uncertainty of its meaning, and we can try to reason out a variety of interpretations
-- Greek mythology--
In Greek mythology, there is a god called Proteus, who is one of the "old men by the sea" called by Homer. His image is in line with the character setting of Thomas in the movie. The hair, beard in the character image, and appear from time to time. The cursed lines of the movie are all vaguely revealing this setting, especially when the cursed lines appear, they are accompanied by lightning and thunder, and it is easy to remind us of the famous sea god Poseidon.
Poseidon is short-tempered and greedy, the movie counterpart to the rolling waves, thunderstorms, and his watch over the lighthouse to keep Winslow working.
Poseidon's five children, one of which is the Cyclops Polyphemus, the other is Triton, is a mermaid, which can correspond to the one-eyed seagull in the play, the one-eyed head, to imply that Winslow killed Poseidon. child.
If the lighthouse in the film is regarded as the land of the gods on Mount Olympus, and the light in the lighthouse is regarded as fire, then Winslow has become Prometheus, who is punished for stealing fire for mankind and is punished every day. Eagle pecking liver.
-- Guardian of the Gate of Truth --
If we think of the original lighthouse keeper Thomas as the gatekeeper of truth, and the light at the top of the lighthouse as divine power such as the truth of the endless knowledge universe, Winslow as the intruder who wants to approach and get this power Or knowledge, you will find that Winslow's heart is peeled away bit by bit, revealing his ugly humanity, but in the end he is punished by a stronger force because he can't control it. The seagull can be regarded as the messenger of God, while the mermaid is the test and self-salvation of God.
-- Dual personality--
The scene at the beginning of the film seems to suggest the creation of a dual personality, Winslow sits down, and Thomas emerges from behind a pillar equally divided from the middle of the frame, including in the second half of the film Thomas is more like an ear voice irritating him.
In fact, both of them are Thomas. The reason why he split into a dual personality is because he can't face the guilt that he killed the real Ephraim Winslow, so he used the name Winslow at first to prevaricate because he didn't dare to face the real self . In the middle part of the film, the two people were drunk and revealed that their identities were called Thomas, and the image of the real Winslow flashed three times. Finally defeated another personality and went to self-destruction.
-- Loop Story--
Thomas' diary wrote about how he hated the last assistant who was waiting for him to guard, and self-confessed and had evidence that he killed the previous assistant; Winslow also killed his own companion to appear as the next assistant. Two people are the same person, the story of the meeting and redemption of old Thomas and young Thomas.
-- Thomas' Purgatory --
If we look at all the parts of the film that affect Winslow as his punishment in purgatory, the beacon as a gateway to redemption or heaven, but he has to go through these trials, then the mermaid in it is his torment , He wants to atone for his sin of killing the real Winslow. Thomas is the angel who tortured and tested him. Winslow called Thomas once in the film, but the voice was only a voiceover, questioning why he told his secret . All actions are to make him repent and make him atone for his sins. But in the end he killed Thomas, and he was also severely punished. Thomas himself can also be interpreted as a beacon. The wriggling of Thomas seen by Winslow from the cracks in the wall is also a manifestation of masturbation and desire. It also cites Sasch's painting Hypnose ("Hypnosis"), suggesting that Thomas and waiting for him identity identity.
Finally, director Robert Eggers mixed up too many symbols in "The Lighthouse", like a blank space that can be self-sufficient, probably everyone's point of view will be different, do you think "The Lighthouse" is really ambiguous Does it add points to it?
Written by: Jason Jin Fansong
Editor: Simon
View more about The Lighthouse reviews
