Gillipedia Official Rating: “It’s metaphorical!” – Ki Woo, Parasite
If you’re wondering why I chose these two films, they are the two highly critically praised films from relative newcomer Robert Eggers. The Lighthouse gained a bit of notoriety when it came out last year for its choice of shooting in black and white. It follows two lighthouse workers in the late 19th century as they maintain this essential seafaring service in sometimes blistering weather off the coast of New England. Willem Dafoe is the veteran skipper, and Robert Pattinson is the new guy, but not all is at it seems.
You will probably never hear me talk about stuff like aspect ratios, but this film is shot very narrowly and creates a bit of claustrophobia while lending itself to the decision to keep the actors’ faces in center frame for a large portion of the film. We start off with the two men on a small, canoe-like boat heading to the titular lighthouse. There’s very little dialogue in the first 20 minutes of the film as Willem farts a bunch and leaves the menial tasks to the upcoming Batman. Already early on we’re treated to these almost dream-like sequences of Pattinson wading farther and farther out into the water and logs floating towards him and Willem doing some Willem things by going up the lighthouse and baring and basking in all the glory of the light at night. And during much of the slower parts, there’s a low, deep roaring like a ship horn that blares ominously throughout. There’s intrigue here, some good shots, and not bad—but rather slow—start overall.
Willem performs most of the dialogue which mainly consists of drunken soliloquys that could’ve been taken straight from Shakespeare. He talks a bunch about gods and the sea and Poseidon and you’ll hardly see him blink. What does that mean, you might ask? It’s the stuff that critics eat up and draws most of the attention, but it’s not really all that enjoyable honestly. In fact the biggest praise I have of the film is actually for Pattinson. His performance is subdued, but it slowly becomes more and more deranged as the psychological effects of the isolated area and the story unfold, and it makes me very excited to see what he will bring to Gotham’s Dark Knight.
I should take the time here to say that if you saw The Witch then you probably already suspected that this is a slow-burning movie, but as little of a plot as that film has, it’s easier to follow than this one. There’s actually more story points here and delves into the characters’ lives, but that serves more as a backdrop to the real grim metaphorical tale here. There’s specks of supernatural, but the main draw is in the cinematography and abstract quality of the film. And I don’t much care for it. I am all for abstracts and metaphors and what have you, but there’s nothing satisfying that comes from this. It’s fun listening to the accents and witness the period piece, but I never felt rewarded for anything that I figured out and left utterly confused by all the junk that made no sense. And even one of the biggest selling points of the Oscar-nominated cinematography using black and white doesn’t feel too impressive. There’s some good shots and occasional cool uses of lighting, but it’s nothing spectacular. If you really want to watch this film, you can find it on Prime. But unless you really just want to put yourself through pain by abstraction, I don’t recommend this movie.
Gillipedia Official Rating: Yeah, ain’t too shabby
The debut film for filmmaker Robert Eggers and actress Anya Taylor-Joy (who has remained extremely busy since), The Witch (got tired of spelling that with the double v’s) is an atmospheric horror film of a banished family residing on a farm near some woods in 17th century New England. And the filmmakers were so proud of the fact that the dialogue is accurate to the time as well as the story being taken from diaries recovered from the time, they included mentioning that as the end credits roll.
The dialogue is neat, but if anyone actually understood everything that was said in the film, they deserve a job in speech immediately. I probably missed every fourth line of dialogue just because of how quiet and muddled the voices are. I didn’t watch with subtitles because I felt that might break the tension a bit, but they’re a necessity for this film.
There’s a great family dynamic established here with little exposition to get in the way. The father is a hard worker and has one of the coolest sounding voices to listen to, the mother is a complex character that is stern but with love in her heart, there’s a younger brother who wants to prove he’s mature enough to help provide, young boy and girl twins, and a baby. But the real star here is definitely Taylor-Joy. She does a great job, even if her character is stuck with the name Thomasin.
There’s actually action early on, but don’t expect that to be a common theme. The baby is taken by a witch, and there’s quite a disturbing sequence that is hard to make out entirely, and that’s for the best. This sets the whole story off as the family copes with the loss of the baby in their own ways and the witch continues to toil with the family that is struggling to put food on the table. Eventually, the primary tension evolves into the mother believing that Thomasin is actually the witch and they must rid of her to save the family.
Don’t expect this horror film to be full of jump scares—it’s not that type of film. There’s some disturbing images for sure, but what works best is the whole atmosphere of the film. You really get a good sense of what a family on its own in the 17th century might be subjected to. With this being a 90-minute film, it may be a slow-burner, but the films moves along with enough pace to hardly allow yourself to take a breath of relief. This film draws a lot of comparisons to Hereditary, and I think that is an apt comparison. This is an A24 film after all, so you won’t be seeing too much of the witch.
What makes the film rise above Egger’s subsequent effort in The Lighthouse is how the film comes together. No spoilers here, but the way the story resolves itself with the family and with the witch and Thomasin’s arc works so much better. The Lighthouse does a good job of showing the lifestyle of that job during the time period, but the period piece is executed better here; the hardships of the lifestyle come through. At the beginning the family doesn’t have beds to sleep on because there’s no Red Roof Inn to stop at, and Bed, Bath, & Beyond possibly made a killing off of this film from all the candles that had to be used to light the night scenes in their cabin. The Witch succeeds if it gets the daunting atmosphere correct, and they do it right. And the final scene of the movie definitely is a doozy. If we’re continuing with comparisons, I do still think Hereditary edges this film out, but if you’re looking to watch a Robert Eggers film, definitely watch The Witch over The Lighthouse.
In Brief:
- As I mentioned earlier, I am now excited to see Pattinson in The Batman whenever that comes out. I know he’s been seeking out challenging roles in primarily indie films since his Twilight days, and if you write him off because of that franchise, then I’m guessing you haven’t seen his other stuff.
- There’s been some internal drama between movie companies and movie theaters. Trolls: World Tour made some big bucks in its improvised release for rentals at home, and that’s put the money-making companies into a frenzy about continuing this trend, and the theaters are upset and blah blah blah. Going to the theater will certainly be different as the country gradually opens up, but that’s okay. I will go in whatever socially acceptable way I can and support the films I want to see because as it stands, the next couple years will be loaded with films desperate to release. I just want to go watch stuff like Tenet and A Quiet Place Part 2 on the big screen, that’s all.
- There’s plenty to review, but as always I will absolutely look into any recommendation anyone has for me.
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