The Lighthouse (2019 film)  

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The Lighthouse is a 2019 psychological thriller film directed and co-produced by Robert Eggers, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Max Eggers. An international co-production of the United States and Canada, the film was shot in black-and-white with a nearly square 1.19:1 aspect ratio. It stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson as two lighthouse keepers who start to lose their sanity when a storm strands them on the remote island where they are stationed.

According to Eggers, although the final story bears little resemblance to Edgar Allan Poe's fragment "The Light-House", the film began as an attempt by his brother Max Eggers to do a contemporary take on the Poe story. When the project stalled, Eggers offered to work with his brother and the project evolved into a period thriller with the Poe elements largely removed. Dafoe and Pattinson were cast as the lead characters in February 2018. Principal photography began on April 9, 2018, and lasted a total of 34 days in Leif Erikson Park in Cape Forchu, Nova Scotia, Canada, and inside a hangar at Yarmouth Airport in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

The film had its world premiere at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival on May 19, and was theatrically released on October 18, 2019, by A24. The film was praised for its technical aspects (notably the cinematography and production design), Eggers' screenplay and direction, and the performances of the leads. It was nominated for Best Cinematography at the 92nd Academy Awards and 73rd British Academy Film Awards.

Plot

In the late 19th century, Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) serves a contract job as a wickie for four weeks on an isolated island off the coast of New England, under the supervision of an irritable elderly man named Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe). On the first day, Winslow notices a hole in his cot, finding a small scrimshaw of a mermaid within it and stuffing it in his jacket. Winslow observes Wake going up to the lighthouse's lantern room at night and stripping naked. Winslow begins experiencing visions and dreams of giant tentacles in the lighthouse, logs floating in the water and distant images of a mermaid (Valeriia Karamān).

Over the course of his stay, Wake demands Winslow take the more taxing jobs—refueling the light, carrying heavy kerosene containers, and disposing of the two men's chamber pots, all the while refusing to let him enter the lantern room. As the weeks progress, Winslow repeatedly encounters an aggressive one-eyed gull. Wake warns Winslow that it is bad luck to kill a gull, as he is superstitious that they are reincarnated sailors. The weeks continue, and Winslow masturbates to the scrimshaw and continues to see Wake naked. One night at dinner, the two get to know each other and discuss Wake's previous wickie, who Wake says died shortly after losing his sanity. Winslow reveals that he used to work in Canada as a timberman, but decided to change professions.

The day before Winslow is due to leave, he notices the water pump is releasing bloody water and investigates. He checks the cistern to see a dying gull floating inside. The one-eyed seagull flies down and attacks Winslow, who grabs it and beats it to death. Soon after, the winds change direction and a storm hits the island that night. The next morning, the relief ferry does not arrive and Winslow sees a body washed up on the shore. He approaches it and realizes that it is a mermaid, which awakens and howls at him. He runs back into the cottage, where Wake informs him that their rations were spoiled by the storm. Winslow inquires about the ferry, but Wake insists that weeks, in fact, have passed since it was due to arrive. They dig up a crate supposed to contain extra rations but find only more alcohol.

More days pass, the storm continues, and the two men grow closer while remaining adversarial. Winslow has visions of a lobster trap containing the severed, half-blinded head of Wake's previous wickie. One night, Winslow tells Wake that his real name is Thomas Howard and that he assumed the identity of Ephraim Winslow, his foreman who died in an accident Howard neglected to stop. Wake accuses Howard of "spilling his beans" and Howard tries to leave on a dory, but Wake destroys it with an axe. Wake chases Howard into the cottage, but inside, Wake claims that it was Howard who attacked him. With no alcohol left, the two begin mixing spirits out of turpentine and honey, and the storm becomes so powerful that waves crash through the cottage's windows.

The next morning, Howard finds Wake's logbook, in which Wake has written a critical report of Howard's performance and recommended he be sacked without pay. Howard confronts Wake, and Wake calls Howard a liar. Howard begs to be shown the light in the lantern room. Wake berates Howard and Howard attacks him. While seeing visions of the mermaid, Wake as a sea monster, and the real Winslow, Howard beats Wake into submission. Howard leashes Wake and buries him alive while he curses Howard to a "Promethean fate." Howard takes the keys and prepares to go up to the lantern room, but Wake appears and strikes him with the axe. Howard disarms Wake and kills him before ascending the lighthouse. He approaches the Fresnel lens, and it stops and opens up to him. Howard gazes into the mirrored interior in ecstasy and reaches in, screaming in distortion as the light brightens before slipping, breaking his leg and falling down the lighthouse steps. A barely-living Howard is finally seen lying naked on the rocks with a damaged eye as several gulls peck at his innards.

Cast




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "The Lighthouse (2019 film)" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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