Yesterday evening I watched The Lighthouse. I wanted to do it because I love stories about the sea and the people living from it, albeit I absolutely despise horror. Furthermore, my mother already had watched it this weekend and she had to leave the screening in the middle of the movie, so that raised a red flag for me. However, since its horror wouldn’t come from any supernatural source I was more likely to have no problems with it, since it doesn’t haunt me this way, and it can give a deeper depth to the characters. So I finally gave it a shot.
I wasn’t disappointed at all! In fact, I really loved the outcome, although the beginning was a bit slow. I also digged the slight Moby-Dickish touch, syncretising sailor beliefs and superstitions with details of the Homeric world. Especially interesting was to see that all the build-up lead to an outcome mimicking the myth of Prometheus trying to reach the light of the gods, with a parallel outcome, although the worldbuilding didn’t lead to that conclusion at first. But looking at it in retrospective, every single detail gives hints to the finale and is coherent with the rest even if it’s not obvious to the audience until the last 15 minutes. The photography was really interesting, too. It transports you to a distant past, reminding to the old photographs of the 19th century. It looks odd, corresponding to the odd, out of the world scenario in the movie. The oddity is enhanced by the tense, overwhelming atmosphere built.
A cool experience, if somebody wants to watch it!