Author: Fang Hanjun
1
Janus Island, 100 miles off the west coast of Australia, the island's name means January, which means the beginning and end of the year, is located at the confluence of the two oceans (Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean), and can be called a "two-faced god", regardless of its Both the front and the back are quietly facing the boundless ocean currents. This small island is uninhabited, but its location is crucial. At the end of the 19th century, the Australian government built a tall lighthouse on the island, illuminating an area of 30 nautical miles and guiding ships sailing in the dark.
According to the 2012 British Writer of the Year M.L. The light between the oceans (2016), based on Steadman's fictional best-selling novel The Strange Girl in the Lighthouse (2016) by Derex Anfrance, sets a suspense right from the start, hoisting the audience's appetite. Quite simply, not everyone wants to be that helpless Robinson, let alone self-imposed exile. After all, movies are different from flat novels. She needs to recreate the three-dimensional situation to present the will of the picture conveyed by the text, so that the film is filled with a religious sanctity and solemnity from beginning to end.
Director Derex Anfrance previously directed "Blue Valentine" and "Outside the Pine Forest", and is good at creating a deep artistic conception and atmosphere of sadness and joy. In my opinion, the style of his images is almost paranoid and carved. Each frame is like an oil painting with rich layers. I like the depiction of close-ups and close-ups of characters to highlight the subtle evolution of emotions between characters. Whether it is joy, despair, or flowers and plants swaying in the breeze, the multi-angle display of the film makes people feel intimate and immersed in it. Of course, the film also has the suspicion of using too much force, but the flaws are not concealed, and the whole is not lost in agility, at least the filming is extremely serious.
In addition, the rhythm of the film is soothing from the beginning to the end, and the piano music used in the soundtrack is very harmonious and beautiful. The actors of the two male and female protagonists can be said to be devoted and fully integrated into the character interpretation. It is said that after the filming of the film, the romance between Fassbender and Vikander came out. I think they really got into the play, which also shows the appeal of this film from one aspect. Most of the filming scenes were shot in the South Island of New Zealand. It is said that the lighthouse in the film is an old tower with a history of more than 140 years. I think this is very consistent with the story of the film, and it also brings a certain source of success to the film.
2
After "World War I", Australian soldier Tom Ray (Michael Fassbender) decided to join the Alliance Lighthouse Service Company and made a special trip to Janus Island to guard the lighthouse. Think about it, under normal circumstances, it is unbelievable and unimaginable for a young man to live on such a desolate and inhabited island. Not to mention the inconvenience of life, what to do in love, and what to do in the future, are you willing to keep the lighthouse alone for the rest of your life? This naturally arouses the interest of viewers.
The reason Tom in the film was able to go to the island of Janus to watch the lighthouse was because his former Trimble's wife died and left, and then he hanged himself and died. Tom's short-term contract became a short-term contract. long-term contract. Tom in the film, with a goatee, has a stern, even expressionless expression. At first, I didn't even recognize Fassbender. I have a habit that I don't like to know too much before watching a new movie, I like to discover and feel it slowly while watching a movie.
As Tom confessed, seeing too much killing and death, he just wanted to live a quiet life. The small island of Janus is surrounded by ocean currents in all directions. This is destined to be a loner, a dialogue with the long night, and a lonely person, a dialogue with the ocean on the crests and valleys. But he was still a man after all, not a cold rock washed by the sea. A seemingly cold person, once he opens his heart to passion and beauty, how can he refuse. He couldn't refuse either.
That's how Isabel Grace Mark (Alicia Vikander) broke into his heart. Before going to the island, she was energetic and bright and noticed Tom. This man is a mystery to her. When she saw Tom again, she couldn't miss the opportunity, so she lied in front of her parents and took the initiative to lie, and he invited me to a picnic tomorrow. Tom was a little surprised, of course, but he could see that he was still looking forward to it. Of course her parents were happy to see it happen.
Isabelle's two older brothers also died in the "World War I". The pain of the white-haired man sending away the black-haired man, only this daughter can appreciate it. She fell in love with Tom at first sight, and she also hoped to bring comfort to her parents. So, after the two got married, she followed Tom to the island. In the beginning, the love between men and women is always comforting. A small island, just a couple, can be said to be deserted, or it can be said to enjoy freedom, just like the implication of the "two-faced god" of the island.
But after the joy, there is always loss. This is a life that is full and incomprehensible. It's just that Isabel is often in a state of panic after she is pregnant. Whether this is a concern about an impending production or something else is unknown. I think this kind of anxiety is not just brought to her by the desolate island, I am afraid it is also innate. On the night of the storm, Tom went to the lighthouse, and her terror reached its peak, and she couldn't face it alone. There was a "huhu" storm outside, she rushed out and ran to the lighthouse on the top of the mountain.
It's been a terrifying nightmare journey. When she used her last strength and climbed to the door of the lighthouse, her knocks and shouts were quickly engulfed by the storm. When everything calmed down in the morning, Tom found his wife lying outside the door. Unfortunately, she had a miscarriage. The couple erected a cross on the tomb of the miscarriage and signed it "May 31, 1921". Misfortunes do not come singly. On April 25, 1923, Isabelle had another miscarriage, and once again erected a cross "forever in my heart".
These two unborn children are their eternal pain. Isabel is on the verge of postpartum depression, as the buzzword goes, even though Tom loves her in every possible way, always encouraging her that we'll have three or five children. But it was still difficult for her to get out of this painful shadow.
3
This 132-minute film, if only limited to the presentation of the couple's life, would be too monotonous, and would lead us to find familiar light and shadows, which is bound to lack an inner tension, so there is no suspense that can be stirred. Her subtlety is that the sea not only brings them a storm, but also brings them some kind of shocking joy. In the extreme depression of the couple, on April 27, 1923, the third day of Isabelle's second miscarriage, Tom saw a small boat floating. He called to Isabelle. As a result, there was a dead young man and a baby waiting to be fed on the boat.
Tom writes the Logbook every day, and everything must be reported truthfully. But the wife was moved. She fell in love with the little baby, who was simply a little angel sent to her by God. She said it was God's will, didn't she. That sense of joy made Tom's persistence no longer, and he had to go along with his wife's heart. He moved flowers and trees, pulled up the second cross, and quietly buried the young deceased. Since then, the couple have raised this lovely little baby girl with all their hearts. Outsiders thought that this little elf named Lucy was the child of their husband and wife.
As they take Lucy to a church baptism, Tom finds a young woman in black (Rachel Weisz) hanging in front of the cemetery next to him. After she was gone, he looked over and read, "In deep memory of Franz Johanneslow Enfield, wife Hannah and daughter Grace, Alan King erected on April 26, 1923. "God, Tom knew right away that the man who died in the boat must be her husband. If this speculation is accurate, the beloved daughter Grace written on the tablet is Lucy. During the baptism, the wife clearly felt the strangeness of her husband.
Another line of the film is this Hannah who lost her husband. This young woman, who was in extreme pain day and night, did not know the life and death of her husband and daughter. Despite the tombstone, she always had a glimmer of hope. It turned out that Hannah was the daughter of the richest family in the area. When she fell in love with the German boy Franz, her father did not agree with the marriage, and her daughter eloped and gave birth to a daughter secretly, which angered her father. In desperation, Franz fled with his daughter, which eventually led to such a tragedy.
Feeling guilty, Tom left a note to Hannah's mailbox, "Don't worry, the child is fine and well-loved, and your husband has rested in peace." This naturally aroused Hannah's expectations. Little Lucy grew up and was cute like a fairy, bringing them infinite happiness, especially for Isabel, the child became all the beauty in her life. She played the piano for the little baby, told her stories, and took her to play in the wild grass.
On this day, at the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the lighthouse, they hugged 5-year-old little Lucy and met Hannah, her sister and her parents. Tom, who has been remorseful all the time, took the stage to speak, only saying "I just lit a light for those who need light". He dared not look Hannah in the eyes. When is this reproof of conscience. When his wife hugged little Lucy and met the Hannah sisters, his face twitched so hard that it almost deformed.
After Hannah called the police, she received another token from her husband, which was her family's necklace. The police station posted a notice that someone had seen the necklace at Tom's. The police came to the island, and before they landed on the shore, Tom told his ignorant wife. Like a thunderous wife, facing her daughter who has accompanied her day and night and emotional sustenance all these years, how can she let go of it? It can be said that this is life-to-life.
4
The police took them, and so did little Lucy, it was Isabel's flesh, bit by bit. She never went to see Tom once when he was locked up. She hated her husband's betrayal. Didn't he know that she loved her daughter so much, didn't he know that Lucy was her lifeblood. But he doesn't want to be condemned by his conscience anymore, he wants to be an honest person. Lucy is Hannah's daughter and should be returned to her. This is wrong in the beginning, and the beginning means the end. But this kind of ending is an unspeakable pain, which is destined to be a pain like cutting flesh.
The same is true for little Lucy, who misses her parents day and night, she always tells Hannah that you are not my mother, my mother is at the lighthouse. One day, she disappeared. It's hard work for everyone. Hannah found Isabel, and finally found the comatose little guy in the direction of the island by the sea. The kind person found the little baby and said excitedly, Lucy said she was asleep, she said she was looking for the lighthouse, and she had nine lives.
Hannah, exhausted, said to Isabelle, if you sue your husband, I will give you Lucy back. But after Isabel read the letter that had never been opened, she regretted it, how could she lie and say that the German Franz was alive at the time. Such a big lie, putting her husband at a disadvantage, making her sleepless. Recalling that Tom took the initiative to choose to watch the lighthouse, he said in a letter to Isabel, "I have been shrouded in the breath of death for too long, and I have gradually become insensitive, which is why I am here."
Now, when she saw the letter her husband wrote to her, she trembled all over: "I only know that I love you, you will meet someone better, forgive me for the pain I have caused you," it hit her heart, She ran out of the house. As the police escorted Tom away, she called to him, shouting that my allegations against him were all lies. They hugged tightly. Unfortunately, Isabel died of illness soon after because of the girl's desire. Tom, who lives alone, has not remarried, and has been indulging in deep nostalgia.
Years later, an aging Tom received a grown-up Lucy, holding her little baby, whom she said was Christopher. Tom gave her a letter Isabel wrote to his daughter before her death that year, "I hope life can be kind to you, I hope you forgive me, leave you, and let you go, you know we always love you!" Xi said can I come to see you often? Of course that's fine, Tom said. After the father and daughter hug, Lucy drives away. Tom kept staring at the car as it left until he was out of sight.
From the director's point of view, what the film describes is "a story of endless love, a sympathy of white lies and deep secrets exposed to the sun." For Tom and Isabella, the couple, What an unbearable, swollen and trance time.
Along with repentance and guilt, love makes them happy, but also makes them suffer, and finally they are lost and found again, just like a fleeting moment. As the voiceover said in the film, "Suddenly a light appeared in front of them, and then came a cry from the dark night, we can't delay, the stars are guiding us."
2017, 8, 7
View more about The Light Between Oceans reviews
