Taking place in 1890 New England, two lighthouse keepers are in charge of a lighthouse on a strange island.
Blaine: Robert Eggers’ first feature was “The Witch” and after it became a success, Robert wanted to make his own version of “Nosferatu”. Robert spent so much time developing it and trying to get it made, but it wasn’t really going anywhere. Robert’s brother, Max, was working on his own project about a haunted lighthouse and it made Robert jealous because he wished he had thought of the idea. Robert wanted in on the project and so both Robert and Max wrote the story for “The Lighthouse” together. Robert Eggers is big on learning things and he did a lot of research on lighthouses from the 19th century. Robert Eggers also learned the dialect through books. There was an author from that century who interviewed people whose jobs involved being out at sea, like sea captains and sailors. She wrote down the way they talked and put it in her books. It became one of Robert’s favorite subjects in doing research for this project because it was fascinating for him. Robert said he had his wife to thank for finding those books.
There was only going to be two characters in the story because it’s just them on an island. Of course there’s also a mermaid, but I’ll get to that part later. Anyway the two main characters of “The Lighthouse" were written for Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson. Robert Eggers’ had met Robert Pattison and Willem Dafoe and he had been trying to find a project that he could do with the both of them and “The Lighthouse” was the answer. Willem wanted to work with Robert Eggers because he was a fan of “The Witch”. Willem thought “The Witch” was a well crafted film and through the film he could see that it’s director, Robert Eggers, had skill. As for Robert Pattinson, he’s the type of actor who likes to be apart of movies that are more strange than ordinary because he loves those type of films.
Robert Eggers knew how the look of “The Lighthouse” should be before there was script. One of the things that is important for the look of a film is color and a director will ask himself what colors feel suitable for the film he or she will make. Black and white is still useful for a lot filmmakers today because it represents something. For Robert Eggers, shooting “The Lighthouse” in black and white would be like taking us back in time sense it’s a period film. In my “1917” review I mentioned how Sam Mendes wrote that the film should look like a long take on the front page of the script. Well apparently Robert Eggers did the same thing with the script for “The Lighthouse”, only his says it should be in black and white. Cinematography was a big thing for this project. It was exciting for cinematographer Jarin Blashke to give “The Lighthouse” a photographic look. Robert Eggers found old photographs while doing his research and they became great references for the look of “The Lighthouse”.
Robert Eggers and Jaron Blashke also looked through ancient camera equipment like lenses and film and they used it for “The Lighthouse” and tried to combine it with some new camera equipment, although these two couldn’t go together because their designs are different from each other. They also had to make sure that they didn’t break any of the equipment. Shooting “The Lighthouse” wasn't going to be easy once principal photography began. Robert Eggers had good luck with the weather he needed. He wanted crummy weather and that’s what he got. The tides on the other hand weren’t easy and it’s hard to shoot right next to something you can’t control.
Like I said there’s a mermaid in “The Lighthouse” and Robert Eggers wanted to add a mermaid right in the beginning and you only see the mermaid a few times. Robert Pattinson’s character discovers someone washed up on shore. She’s wrapped in kelp and once Robert Pattinson removes the kelp, he discovers she’s a mermaid. The mermaid awakens, makes sounds and Robert Pattinson runs away. The mermaid doesn’t leave Robert Pattinson’s mind after encountering her. My guess is she’s the best thing to happen to him since he’s been on the island. It’s like when you’re in prison and all you have are cell mates who are the same gender as you. From the looks of it, Robert Eggers has figured out a way where a mermaid and a human being can mate. There’s a shot that focusses on certain parts of the mermaid as Robert Pattinson’s character is getting a good look at her. There’s a piece between the top and lower half of the mermaid that looks like, pardon what I’m about to say, uterus. Robert Pattinson’s character has sexual fantasies about the mermaid. They didn’t have long to shoot scenes with the mermaid on shore because of the tides. The tides would come in quickly and Valeriia Karaman, the actress who plays the mermaid, could hardly walk because she had a tail fin on her lower half, so she was brought to the set through a stretcher.
The scenes that happen during night time are a little hard to see, which is why it’s best to watch “The Lighthouse” in the dark. There’s outlines of the lighthouse and Robert Pattinson. There’s a shot where the moon light is reflecting on Robert Pattison from the ocean. When Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe are done for the day they have dinner together and a kerosene lamp is the only thing that is lightening up the room. They used a very bright light so it could light things up. There’s a shot where Willem Dafoe is nude while looking over Robert Pattinson and he looks like Neptune in that shot.
Robert Pattinson’s job was miserable at times just dealing with all that cold water. Robert Eggers would have water splashed on Robert Pattinson during scenes where there was a storm. Robert Pattinson really hated it when Robert Eggers had him go into this cold water towards the shore. Robert Eggers thought Robert Pattinson was brave enough to do all the things that would be difficult to handle for this project. Willem Dafoe didn’t have to deal with any of that, of course he was nude out in the cold air. Willem was also buried alive during one scene and that was the only thing he hated about being apart of “The Lighthouse”. Of course Willem Dafoe knew what he was up for because he knows actors have to go through a lot of things that may seem uncomfortable, but it’s worth it because you are helping someone else create something and Willem has been in the business for so long that he knows how things go.
Even in the film, Robert Pattinson’s character has it rough. His character works hard at his job and Willem Dafoe’s character keeps treating him like he is not doing it good enough. Robert can’t stand to listen to William telling him how to do his job. He wants him to drop dead. Willem Dafoe talks a lot in “The Lighthouse”. You could say he’s the voice of the film. Robert Pattinson doesn’t talk as much, but you see him a lot more than Willem.
“The Lighthouse” is about two men trying to stay sane and I would say they are going through an “All work and no pay” thing because those characters have to be on that island for a while and it’s just them, nobody else, one of them is seeing things. Another thing that is making Robert Pattinson’s job rough is a seagull. It keeps getting in the way and making noise. The seagull is as bad to Robert Pattinson as Willem Dafoe’s character.
Willem Dafoe’s character said it is bad luck to kill a seagull, but Robert Pattinson kills it anyway because he really, really can’t stand the thing. Robert Pattinson grabs the seagull and bashes it to death. Robert Pattinson was already having hard luck before killing that gull. Things get even more rough for Robert Pattinson in the end. Robert Pattinson is surrounded by more than thirty seagulls and some of them are picking on Robert Pattinson. Seagulls have become Robert Pattinson’s worst fear and the nightmare will never be over for him.
My rating on “The Lighthouse” is five out of five stars.
