The Light Between Oceans - directed by Derek Cianfrance
Boy did I hesitate before committing to this one!
It's been a good day off work today filled with some good food another look at "Doctor Strange" at IMAX and a bunch of other relaxing, fun things.
And I am in no mood to have that feel-good buzz ruined late in the day!
Derek Cianfrance films carry a high risk of doing that very thing.
Anyone who has seen "Blue Valentine" about the gradual, painful deterioration of a relationship or "The Place Beyond the Pines" about revenge, violence, death and all sorts of other 'good' stuff will know what I mean.
Cianfrance's latest film (that is pronounced See-in-France by the way) looked to be one that could out-do even those very depressing but admittedly really well made films.
On the other hand it stars the utterly amazing Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender and Rachel Weisz.
Kind of a fifty-fifty call but obviously I went or this post would be staggeringly pointless!
In Cianfrance's fourth feature film we find ourselves in 1918 on an island off the coast of Australia where World War 1 veteran Tom (Fassbender) has accepted a three month posting running the lighthouse.
The solitude is just what he is looking for.
Regardless he encounters mainlander Island (Vikander) and the pair are instantly attracted to each other.
After his time on the island is extended he returns briefly to the mainland and takes Patricia on a picnic at which she announces her desire to visit the island with him.
She is forbidden to though - only a wife could go.
After some months of letters back and forth Patricia does become Tom's wife.
Things turn sour after Patricia has two miscarriages.
When a boat washes ashore with a dead man and a wailing infant girl in it Patricia sees this as a sign that she must care for the child.
Convincing Tom not to send a message to the mainland alerting them of the death and the saved child she instead assumes the child in place of her last miscarried one.
Everyone will assume that it is the child she was heavily pregnant of course.
Trouble arrives when the child is taken to the mainland to meet the grandparents and the real Mother Hannah (Weisz) shows up.
Guilt begins to grow within Tom but Patricia is adamant that the baby (now named Lucy) is hers and it is right that she keep her.
Hannah receives an anonymous letter advising her that the sea has taken her husband but that the child is safe and well cared for.
A few years pass and the guilt within Tom has grown at roughly the same rate the attachment to the child has taken hold in Patricia.
If it hasn't been clear that trouble is brewing from the gloomy setting and melancholy tone then the events that happen next will leave you in no doubt that this movie is very definitely more of the same from Cianfrance.
The best way that I can describe this film is imagine if the Coen's "Raising Arizona" script had been re-imagined and directed by Werner Herzog
It is all harsh nature, moral dilemmas and grim, grim happenings.
Of course as much as grimness is a trait of Cianfrance's films so are superb performances and stunning cinematography and this film is no exception.
Fassbender and Vikander are excellent and get the bulk of the showy stuff but for my money it is Weisz who is the standout.
A more subtle performance is required of her and I really liked what she did in playing a woman wrestling with the love of her child and the realisation that she may no longer be what is best for her.
I found that Weisz generated more sympathy in her first five minutes on screen than Vikander did in ten times that.
In fairness to Vikander of whom I am a huge fan it is hard to appear sympathetic when you have not only stolen a child but have refused to return it when the real Mother appears.
It should be stated that although I have used the word grim several times and even commenced this post by announcing my trepidation in seeing this film that it isn't as totally a downer as it could have been.
The conclusion is pretty good although one character gets a bafflingly dismissive send off.
It is frequently a stunning looking film although Desplat's score is as overbearing as often as it is wonderful.
All in all this is a decent film but nonetheless one that left me wondering what the point of it all was.
RATING: 72 / 100
CONCLUSION: Beautifully shot and wonderfully acted there is still the sense that this is all an indulgent exercise in the pursuit of critical acclaim. It is enjoyable purely for the skill in some key areas - it's just a shame that the script isn't one of them.
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz, Florence Clery, Jack Thompson, Thomas Unger, Garry McDonald, Anthony Hayes, Jane Lenelaus, Bryan Brown, Emily Barclay, Benedict Hardie, Elizabeth Hawthorne, John Bach, Marshall Napier, Caren Pistorius
Screenplay: Derek Cianfrance
Music Score by: Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography: Adam Arkapaw
Cinematography: Adam Arkapaw
Edited by: Jim Helton & Ron Patane
Running Time: 132 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - sex scenes
Running Time: 132 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - sex scenes
It's been a good day off work today filled with some good food another look at "Doctor Strange" at IMAX and a bunch of other relaxing, fun things.
And I am in no mood to have that feel-good buzz ruined late in the day!
Derek Cianfrance films carry a high risk of doing that very thing.
Anyone who has seen "Blue Valentine" about the gradual, painful deterioration of a relationship or "The Place Beyond the Pines" about revenge, violence, death and all sorts of other 'good' stuff will know what I mean.
Cianfrance's latest film (that is pronounced See-in-France by the way) looked to be one that could out-do even those very depressing but admittedly really well made films.
On the other hand it stars the utterly amazing Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender and Rachel Weisz.
Kind of a fifty-fifty call but obviously I went or this post would be staggeringly pointless!
In Cianfrance's fourth feature film we find ourselves in 1918 on an island off the coast of Australia where World War 1 veteran Tom (Fassbender) has accepted a three month posting running the lighthouse.
The solitude is just what he is looking for.
Regardless he encounters mainlander Island (Vikander) and the pair are instantly attracted to each other.
After his time on the island is extended he returns briefly to the mainland and takes Patricia on a picnic at which she announces her desire to visit the island with him.
She is forbidden to though - only a wife could go.
After some months of letters back and forth Patricia does become Tom's wife.
Things turn sour after Patricia has two miscarriages.
When a boat washes ashore with a dead man and a wailing infant girl in it Patricia sees this as a sign that she must care for the child.
Convincing Tom not to send a message to the mainland alerting them of the death and the saved child she instead assumes the child in place of her last miscarried one.
Everyone will assume that it is the child she was heavily pregnant of course.
 |
| Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander |
Guilt begins to grow within Tom but Patricia is adamant that the baby (now named Lucy) is hers and it is right that she keep her.
Hannah receives an anonymous letter advising her that the sea has taken her husband but that the child is safe and well cared for.
A few years pass and the guilt within Tom has grown at roughly the same rate the attachment to the child has taken hold in Patricia.
If it hasn't been clear that trouble is brewing from the gloomy setting and melancholy tone then the events that happen next will leave you in no doubt that this movie is very definitely more of the same from Cianfrance.
The best way that I can describe this film is imagine if the Coen's "Raising Arizona" script had been re-imagined and directed by Werner Herzog
It is all harsh nature, moral dilemmas and grim, grim happenings.
 |
| Rachel Weisz, the adorable Florence Clery and right - Cianfrance on location at the Cape Campbell lighthouse |
Fassbender and Vikander are excellent and get the bulk of the showy stuff but for my money it is Weisz who is the standout.
A more subtle performance is required of her and I really liked what she did in playing a woman wrestling with the love of her child and the realisation that she may no longer be what is best for her.
I found that Weisz generated more sympathy in her first five minutes on screen than Vikander did in ten times that.
In fairness to Vikander of whom I am a huge fan it is hard to appear sympathetic when you have not only stolen a child but have refused to return it when the real Mother appears.
It should be stated that although I have used the word grim several times and even commenced this post by announcing my trepidation in seeing this film that it isn't as totally a downer as it could have been.
The conclusion is pretty good although one character gets a bafflingly dismissive send off.
It is frequently a stunning looking film although Desplat's score is as overbearing as often as it is wonderful.
All in all this is a decent film but nonetheless one that left me wondering what the point of it all was.
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