The Lighthouse (2019 film)

The Lighthouse began as an attempt by Max Eggers to adapt "The Light-House", an unfinished short story by Edgar Allan Poe. Robert Eggers became aware of his brother's effort while trying to pitch his debut feature, The Witch, to studios. Max's project stalled, after which Robert offered to work on it based on his own vision. The final story, co-written by Robert and Max, bears no resemblance to the Poe work apart from the title.[11]

The literature of Maine-based writer Sarah Orne Jewett served as a significant point of reference for the dialects used in The Lighthouse. Maritime and surrealistic elements from the works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Herman Melville and Robert Louis Stevenson also informed the writing of the film. According to Eggers, a 19th-century incident at Smalls Lighthouse in Wales involving two lighthouse keepers (both named Thomas, as in the film) was an additional source of inspiration - the story was made into the 2016 British film of the same name.[11]

In February 2018, it was announced Willem Dafoe had been cast in the film.[12] Dafoe had previously contacted Robert Eggers via email, expressing his admiration for The Witch and offering to work with the director in the future. When The Lighthouse was greenlit, Eggers offered Dafoe one of the leads.[11] Later in February 2018, Robert Pattinson joined the cast.[13]

From the beginning, Eggers wanted to shoot the film in black and white and a "narrow, vintage" aspect ratio.[11] Consequently, The Lighthouse was shot on black and white 35mm film, with an orthochromatic aesthetic that evokes 19th-century photography, as well as a nearly square 1.19:1 aspect ratio that corresponds to narrow sets and seeks to withhold information from the audience. Jarin Blaschke, who had previously collaborated with Eggers on The Witch and served as the film's director of photography,[14][15] stated that "The idea of widescreen only came about in the 1950s—we wanted to take people back further than that." Blaschke and Eggers achieved the aesthetic of The Lighthouse by using a combination of film tools. The entire film was shot on Panavision Millennium XL2[16] cameras that were equipped with a vintage 1930s Baltar lens, and black-and-white Eastman Double-X 5222 film was used with a custom short pass filter. Blaschke almost exclusively set his aperture to T2.8, setting only the characters as the focus of shots. Due to the low sensitivity of the film used on set, 8k and 9k HMI lights were used through the entirety of filming, as natural light could not suffice. HMI light was bounced off muslin cloths for daytime scenes. Low voltage bulbs and china lights were used to light nighttime and closeup scenes.

Principal photography began on April 9, 2018,[17][18] and lasted a total of 34 days.[19] Filming took place in Leif Erikson Park in Cape Forchu, Nova Scotia, Canada, and inside a hangar at Yarmouth Airport in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.[20][21] The shoot was noted for the difficulties the cast and crew encountered, as a result of the remote location, the unfavourable weather and the complexity of the shots Eggers and Blaschke had devised.[6][11] A 70-foot (20-meter) working lighthouse was constructed specifically for the film, which according to Eggers could shine for 16 miles (25 kilometers).[6]

Eggers admitted that he was heavily influenced by the work of Carl Jung,[22] and hoped that "it’s a movie where both Jung and Freud would be furiously eating their popcorn".[23] According to Pattinson the phallic imagery of the lighthouse is explicit, as Eggers described it as an erect penis in the script.[23] The film was meant to include “a very juvenile shot of a lighthouse moving like an erect penis and a match-cut to [Pattinson's] actual erect penis”, although this cut was removed upon request by financiers.[24] Winslow displays an Oedipal fixation on his boss Thomas, given his simultaneous fear and admiration of him. Pattinson commented on the father/son dynamic in the film, stating "I was pretty conscious of how I wanted the relationship to come across. In a lot of ways, he sort of wants a daddy."[23] As the film progresses, Winslow is increasingly "looking for Willem [Dafoe]'s validation" both as a boss and as a father figure.[25]

The Sea Monster (c. 1493–1503) by Albrecht Dürer

Eggers was inspired by sailors' myths and classical mythology. After finally obtaining the light, and the knowledge of what is in the light, Howard falls to his death down the stairs of the lighthouse and his organs are plucked out by seagulls, invoking the myth of Prometheus. Wake was modeled on Proteus, a "prophecy-telling ocean god who serves Poseidon." Not only is he later shown with tentacles and sea creatures stuck to his body, but "he also makes that uncannily accurate prediction for how Ephraim will die at the end of the movie."[22] Albrecht Dürer's engraving The Sea Monster inspired Wake's appearance: Eggers said "The Proteus figure that is more clearly nautical is somewhat based on a sea monster by Dürer, who carries a tortoise shell shield."[26]

Eggers explains his mythological inspiration for the film: it's "partially because [Herman] Melville goes there and partially because I'm sure our unhealthy Jungian leanings you get into classical mythology in this movie."[27]

The Lighthouse deals explicitly with alcoholism. Robert Pattinson described Winslow as being early in his sobriety at the start of the film.[25] Although Winslow declines the liquor that Wake serves him on his first night, he soon realizes that the water on the island is undrinkable due to the contamination of the water system. He quickly turns to alcohol to cope with the immense labor and his aggressive relationship with Wake. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times notes that "the men's sloppy, alcohol-saturated time together produces intimacy but also menace. They laugh, descending into riotous drunkenness and finding connection that both they and Eggers skitter around."[28]

Hypnosis (1904) by Sascha Schneider

For Michaela Barton of Flipscreened, "this film is so clearly gay that an analysis of its homoerotic subtext would be like arguing the sky is blue."[29] Robert Eggers has refused to concretely state whether the characters are gay or straight, stating: "Am I saying these characters are gay? No. I'm not saying they're not either. Forget about complexities of human sexuality or their particular inclinations. I'm more about questions than answers in this movie."[23]

Wake frequently compliments Winslow's physical appearance, calling him "pretty as a picture" and describing his eyes as "bright as a lady." Barton interprets Howard's name change to his previous, deceased boss as indicative of a more intimate relationship: "Considering the act of Tommy taking his name, this behavior suggests a tender and affectionate attitude, almost like the tradition of taking your partner's name after marriage."[29] When asked about the scene in which Winslow criticizes Wake's cooking, Barton says that Wake's desperate need for validation of his lobster is a euphemism for his penis.[23]

Sexual fantasy and masturbation are recurring themes in the film. Winslow frequently masturbates to the mermaid figurine throughout the film. He fantasizes of a mermaid washed up on the shore. When he sees her enlarged vagina (based on shark genitalia)[24] he runs screaming. Barton interprets his reaction, stating that it "is fairly obvious – the mermaid was never Tommy's siren. His true siren is revealed a little later."[29]

For Dafoe, the homoeroticism in the film is blatant, but it is also used to explore what it means to be a man: "They're pushing each other's buttons out of fear and out of threat of who they are. And they're both guilty. They have a sense of guilt, of wrong. There's no moral judgment in this story. It's just to watch these two guys struggling to find a way to survive themselves, really... It's a simple story, but it's got existential roots and identity things and things about masculinity and domination and submission. And for better and for worse. Then you see it flip-flop and it's kind of cool."[23] After beating Wake into submission, Howard assumes a dominant role, calling Wake "dog" and dragging him on a leash. Commenting on this scene, Pattinson stated that, "there's definitely a take where we were literally trying to pull each other's pants down. It literally almost looked like foreplay."[30]

The film's mythological and artistic influences underscore its homoeroticism. Eggers acknowledged the visual influence of symbolist artists Sascha Schneider and Jean Delville, whose "mythic paintings in a homoerotic style," he said, "[became] perfect candidates as imagery that's going to work itself into the script."[31] The composition of a shot in the film was consciously adapted from Schneider's Hypnosis.[26][32]

The Lighthouse grossed $10.9 million in the United States and $7.1 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $18.2 million.[7][8]

In its limited opening weekend on October 18, the film grossed $419,764 from eight theaters, for an average of $52,471 per venue.[37] In its second weekend the film expanded to 586 theaters, grossing $3 million and finishing eighth at the box office.[38] The following weekend, the film expanded to 978 theaters, falling 34.7% to $2 million and finishing 13th.[39]

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 90% based on 373 reviews, with an average rating of 8.05/10. The site's critics' consensus reads, "A gripping story brilliantly filmed and led by a pair of powerhouse performances, The Lighthouse further establishes Robert Eggers as a filmmaker of exceptional talent."[40] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100, based on 51 critics, indicating "universal acclaim."[41]

Owen Gleiberman of Variety called the film "darkly exciting" and "made with extraordinary skill," commenting that "the movie, building on The Witch, proves that Robert Eggers possesses something more than impeccable genre skill. He has the ability to lock you into the fever of what's happening onscreen."[1] Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph gave the film a perfect score, calling Dafoe's performance "astounding" and comparing Pattinson's to that of Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood, commenting, "that's no comparison to make lightly, but everything about The Lighthouse lands with a crash. It's cinema to make your head and soul ring."[42] Writing for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw also praised the performances of Dafoe and Pattinson, in addition to the screenplay stating "Their script is barnacled with resemblances to Coleridge, Shakespeare, Melville – and there’s also some staggeringly cheeky black-comic riffs and gags and the two of them resemble no-one so much as Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H Corbett: Steptoe and Son in hell."[43]