9 / 10
Transport yourself to a black-and-white nautical purgatory full of emotionally taxing labor and dialogue. Brought to you by the guy who made the “The VVitch”, A24 adds another artistically charged film to their portfolio. Chilling and spooky.
Visually –
Chilling and cinematically beautiful with the 4x3 35mm monochromatic movie magic. Felt like a painting. Strikingly different direction from the latest 4k CGI solar flare direction. With a square screen to view black and white film felt like you were seeing a film from the 1950's or 60s. It encapsulated a period of time in film making when there were plenty of striking visual thematics and props. Even with a limited environment to work with, it was still visually stimulating.
Characters–
Great character development between these two salty sea dogs as they work together on a lonesome island with only a lighthouse to tend to. Filled with plenty of parallels to nautical legends such as King Neptune, Mermaids, and tell tales of haunted seas birds. Had a magical sort of element to it.
Two excellent dramatic performers – Willem Defoe and Robert Pattinson. Yeah, I'm really starting to respect that vampire boyfriend from Twilight. I haven’t seen too many sailor movies, but watching these two babble-on in Old English and spouting-off drinking songs was kinda fun to watch. It’s sort of a Stockholm syndrome infused friendship.
Plot –
Four weeks allotted to these two with jobs as Lighthouse Keepers. This film is full of dramatic suspense and slow dialogue. Pattinson’s character enslaved to soul-crushing manual labor, while Defoe runs the lights upstairs. These two don't necessarily get off on the right foot and some of their evenings together are a bit emotionally taxing. Defoe truly churns out several powerful dramatic monologues that really displayed his acting chops.
Dialogue –
Hard to understand what they were saying with the sailor slang and Old English. It felt authentic.
Structure -
Compelling motifs and chilling music.
. . // t o o l o n g ; d i d n ' t r e a d // . .
Date Flick? - Nah
Great Flick? - Yeah, I liked it. Wouldn't recommend it to just anyone though. You would have to appreciate the artistic elements over the slow dialogue.
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